Lost In The Transition
by tjmack
Summary: Emma's stuck outside in a snowstorm, and her father is tasked with the job of locating her before it's too late.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: I am not entirely sure where this came from, but it's set post finale. I apologize if it's awful, this is only my second completed OUAT story. I am also working on a small multi-chaptered story that hasn't quite come to fruition. So, let me know what you think. I am always open to constructive Criticism, as long as you put it nicely. :-) Also, yes I did do some small amount of research for this fic, though you can only learn so much from wikipedia, so any mistake are my own. **_

* * *

Emma shivered as she yanked her jacket tighter to her body. No amount of layers, hats, or jackets could keep the chill from reaching her body. It was like a big icy, bony finger that kept poking at her until her entire body felt like it was frostbitten. That should have been bad enough, and yet she found herself stuck outside. Her yellow bug pointed at the _you are now entering storybrooke_ sign. Her tire was flat, and she had no jack to fix it. Worse? Her cell had no signal out here, which meant that she was stuck here, on the outskirts of a town that none of the residents could leave. Emma felt like she had won the lottery.

A scowl formed on her face, as she attempted to pull her arms inside her jacket in a last ditch effort to stay warm. However, mother nature seemed to hate her with a passion, and refused to let her feel one ounce of warmth. Emma knew she had two choices. Wait with the car on the off chance that some idiot actually found their way on the deserted road that led to Storybrooke, fat chance, with the heat on until her car battery died along with her stupid tire. The other choice, was to start walking. It was only a couple of miles until she would reach town. One more mile after that would have her home, in the small cramped apartment that she was currently sharing with her mother, father, and son.

Then again, option one did hold the hidden agenda of hiding out from her parents, but it also ended badly. Mostly likely with her freezing to death. Emma shook her head, she couldn't do that to Henry, no matter how uncomfortable that apartment could be. Sighing, Emma pulled the keys from the ignition and walked around to the trunk. Pulling it open, she smiled brightly, causing her teeth to chatter. She yanked the small afghan from the trunk, not really remembering putting the blanket in her trunk to begin with. Shutting it, realizing that nothing else needed to be taken care of, Emma threw the afghan over her shoulders and started to walk.

The chilly air was growing a much bigger bite to it, as the wind started to pick up. Looking up, Emma groaned. Hadn't her mother warned her about an impending snow storm? "Really?" Emma moaned out, as she hunched her shoulders and kept moving forward.

* * *

Snow flutters down the steps. A frown etched on her face as she eyes the clock. "James?" She peers into the kitchen, where she finds her husband and grandson sitting at the table, chuckling over a game of cards. "James." She says a bit more forcefully.

His head bobs up, and he smiles at his wife, before taking in her worried expression. Frowning slightly, He reaches his hand forward toward Henry's shoulder. "I'm gonna go talk to your grandma, alright? I'll be right back." James smiles broadly at Henry, nothing but pure love shining in his eyes.

"Alright, grandpa." Henry smirked at James before he stood up.

Striding quickly toward his wife, his face mirrored hers. Snow typically didn't worry, not like this. Frowns were not usually found on her face, so whatever was bothering her was obviously something worth worrying over. "What's wrong, Snow?"

Her eyes pierced his, her bottom lip trembled slightly as she gestured toward the clock. "Emma." It was merely a whisper, but she knew that James heard her.

He wearily eyed the clock. "It's only five-thirty, Snow. Perhaps she's just running late." He offered her a smile, but sighed when her facial expression didn't change.

"I specifically told her about that snowstorm, James. How dangerous it was supposed to be."

James reached forward, resting his hands on either side of her shoulders. "Our daughter is smart, Snow. She'll be fine. She's probably on her way home as we speak. Besides, do you really think she'd do anything that would cause Henry to worry about her?" James asked, as he threw a backward glance at his grandson.

"No—it's just—" Snow sighed. "She said she might have to go out of town. Back to Boston, but she wouldn't tell me why. What if something happened?"

James sighed. He hadn't known that, but he wasn't lying. Emma wouldn't do anything stupid. Not anything that would risk endangering her life, not when she had Henry to think about. "Let's give her until six, if she isn't home, I'll take the truck out and see if I can find her."

Snow nodded her head. "Okay."

James smiled brightly at her, his arm winding around her shoulders as he pulled her against his side. "Until then, how's about you join us?"

Snow offered a small, weak smile back. "What are we playing?" She asked, her eyebrow cocked suspiciously.

* * *

Emma stands still on the side of the road. She can no longer see her yellow bug, but she's not sure if it's because of how far she's walked or because of the amount of snow that is now littering the ground. Sighing, she pulls her hands out of her gloves and looks at them. Pale, but that is definitely better than purple. Shivers over take her body once again, so after rubbing her now numb hands together for a moment, in an attempt to revive them, she pulls the gloves back on and shoves her hands into her pockets.

Her legs are burning, like someone sat them on fire. Sighing, she lifts her legs, one after the other as she trudges forward. Though she hasn't even actually felt the effects before, Emma knows she's well on her way to hypothermia. However, she also knows that she can't dwell on this fact. Hypothermia or not, she has a family to go home to, and stopping for any period of time is not something that is bound to help her.

Trudging forward, attempting to ignore the pain burning its way up her legs or the shivering that seems to be getting worse, Emma keeps her eyes forward, looking for something that signifies life. So far all she's able to see are the trees swaying with the wind that is starting to pick back up, and snow fluttering to the ground. None of that is helpful in the least bit. All it does is make her colder. Sighing, Emma tries a tactic she learned long ago. Since she couldn't actually take herself out of her current enviroment, she could think her way out of it. It would be a bit more difficult since she can't close her eyes, so with her eyes wide open, Emma dreams of a warm fire and hot chocolate with cinnamon sprinkles.

Her body still shakes from the cold, but she doesn't feel the biting wind quite as badly. It's all she can really ask for. Well that, or a passing vehicle, but since that is more than likely, not going to happen, she'll take the momentary lapse of biting wind on her face.

With her eyes straight ahead and the snow littered on the ground, Emma doesn't see the rock lodged into the ground in front of her. So when her foot hits it, causing her weight to twist against her ankle, she barks out a pain gasp as she falls hard to the frozen ground beneath her. Her ankle throbs, but the blinding pain in her arm is enough to cause her vision to darken around the edges.

"I cannot lose consciousness. I have to get up, I have to make it home." She starts to chant it over and over again, like a mantra. Emma just prays that if she keeps saying it out-loud, that it'll help her climb to her feet and keep moving. Sighing, Emma is able to to pull herself into a sitting position, though the movement jarred her arm enough to elitcte a scream from her throat. Quickly, as to not lose what little heat is being stored in her jacket, Emma unzips it and bites her lip as she pulls her injured arm through the sleeve. Using her teeth and her one good arm, Emma is able to rezip her jacket, and let her injured arm cradle against her chest.

With that taken care of, Emma groans. The only way to check over the damage of her ankle would be to take off her knee-length boot, and that would take two arms, which she was currently lacking.

"Screw it." She finally says. Using her good arm, Emma places her palm onto the ground and pushes herself into a standing position. Tiny cries make their way out of her mouth as she stumbles around on one leg for a moment as she tries to gather her balance. Sighing, she planted her injured foot onto the ground, and bit back the scream that wanted to tear itself from her mouth. So, stumbling on one foot it was.

Slowly, Emma started moving forward, desperately praying for a car to magically appear in front of her. Tears slipped down her cheek as she continued forward at a mere snails pace. In a weak whisper Emma said. "Mom. I need you."

* * *

James stares at the clock, one minute past six. Snow hasn't had the chance to watch the clock, not like he has. She hasn't even had the chance to look at it since they all sat down to play a friendly game of go fish with their grandson, and yet James cannot force himself to look away. With each tick of the clock feels like a nail in Emma's proverbial coffin. What if Snow was right? What if something had happened, and she had no way to get a hold of them? What if she was hurt?

James stood up suddenly. "I—umhmm. I need to talk to you, Snow." He motioned for her to follow him. He didn't want to alert Henry. Not if there wasn't anything wrong. Emma could very well be stuck at work, though he was certain that she would have at least called them.

Once he was certain out of earshot of Henry, he grabbed Snow's shoulders. "I can't get this feeling to leave. Not since we last talked." He sighed. "It's after six, and she's still not home, Snow. I'm going out there and I'm finding her."

Snow nodded numbly as his words sank in. "You think something happened?" She asked, though it was more rhetorical.

"I don't think so—but I just—I have this feeling in the pit of my stomach, Snow. I can't just sit here."

Snow nodded again. "Find our daughter, James."

"I plan on it." He offered her a small, sad smile. "What are you going to tell Henry?" James asked, as he nodded toward their grandson.

"I'm not sure. I'll think of something. Just go."

James nodded. "I love you, Snow." He leaned forward, pressing his lips against her forehead.

"I love you too, James." She smiled as he pulled away.

"I'll be back." He announced in a voice loud enough for Henry to hear, as he grabbed his jacket and truck keys and headed out the door.

"Where is grandpa going?" Henry asked, as the door slammed shut behind James.

* * *

James speeds down the road, his first initial thought was to check the sheriff's station, but then Snow's words fluttered into his mind. _She said she might have to go out of town. Back to Boston._ Which was why he was currently heading toward the town limits, praying that his gut feeling was wrong. That he wouldn't find her stranded on the side of the street—or worse.

His truck lights lit up something on the side of the road, and his stomach lurched into his throat. Slamming on his brakes, not his best idea in this weather, caused his truck to lurch sideways before finally stopping. Without another thought of his vehicle, James jumped from the cab and sprinted toward the large mound covered in snow. He stopped directly in front of who or whatever it was, and quickly brushed away the snow on top of it, as blond hair fell out from behind the white snow. His throat dried up as tears welled up in his eyes.

"Emma." Came the gasping whisper. She didn't move, didn't acknowledge that she had even heard him. Kneeling in front of her, he removed as much of the thick, white snow as he could, before shaking her shoulder.

A pained hiss escaped her lips, and his heart leaped at the fact that she was indeed alive. "Emma." He spoke louder this time. Her eyes cracked open as a frightened smile crossed her lips.

"Dad." It was merely a whisper, but his heart soared. Emma hadn't even so much acknowledged Snow or himself since the curse had been broken, let alone acknowledge them as her parents.

"Yes." He smiled. "Lets get you home, and warmed up."

Emma tried to shake her head, but it only made her dizzy. She nearly fell off the large rock formation she had found, and sat upon. "Can't." She whispered. "Hurts."

James' eyes widen. "Where?"

"Arm. Leg." Her eyes started to droop close.

"No, no no. Don't go to sleep. Emma! Look at me."

Her eyes opened, glassy as they were. Sighing, James walked behind Emma and hefted her into his arms as he walked back to the truck as quickly as he could. Carefully he deposited her in the passenger side seat, before walking quickly to the other side and hopping in. He didn't even bother with seat belts as he quickly whipped the truck around and sped toward town.

"Emma, do you have your cell?" When he got no response, he raised his voice. "Emma!" Her body jerked, as another pained hiss escaped her lips.

"Yeah." She mumbled.

"Do you have your cell?"

"Yeah." She whispered. Emma tried to lift her good arm to retrieve it, but it wasn't replying to the message her brain was sending. "Can't reach it." She mumbled out.

"That's okay. I'll call Snow when we get to the hospital."

"'Kay." Emma mumbled as her eyes slowly drifted close again.

James knew that he hadn't met any cars on his way to Emma, so he hoped that he wouldn't met any on the way to the hospital. His foot slammed against the gas as he sped at dangerous speeds down the snow covered road. "Stay with me, Emma." He peeked at her from the corner of his eye and knew it was a losing game. Her eyes were drooping close to fly open, before reverting downward all over again. "You're gonna be fine." He said again. More so for himself, at that point. "You have to be fine." He said as tears slid down his cheeks.

* * *

Emma moaned loudly. Pain throbbing through-out her entire body. Her brain tries to figure out why she feels like she's been hit by a truck, but comes up empty. Someone squeezes her hand, and there is movement on her bed. Which only means on thing, she isn't alone, and Emma is fairly certain who she will find standing over her. Snow and Henry.

She couldn't deny them the acknowledgement of her being awake, they apparently have been waiting for it, for whatever reason. So slowly, she cracks open her eyes and sees Henry peering into her face. "Emma?" His voice sounds worried. This worries Emma, but she doesn't want to let on to her fear.

"I thought I was mom?" Emma asked, making a face at how weak her voice sounded.

Tears willed in his eyes as he carefully leaned forward and hugged Emma tightly. "I was so scared, mom."

Emma sighed, as her eyes flicked around the room until she settled on the other occupant. Her mother, Snow White. She still couldn't wrap her mind around that face. Snow White, _**the**_ fairy tale character, is in fact real, and is her mother. "What happened?" Emma asked.

"From what James gathered. Something happened to your car on your way back into town, and he found you sitting on a rock on the outskirts of town, covered in snow. You were hypodermic, incoherent and barely conscious. You were able to inform him, barely, that your arm and leg hurt. So he drove you to the hospital."

Emma nodded. "How long?" She asked, as her only working arm wrapped around Henry's body as he started to shake from the tears that slipped down his cheeks, wetting her thin hospital gown.

"Two days." Snow frowned. "You're body temperature was very low. Nearing on moderate hypothermia. Obviously storybrooke hasn't had loads of cases of hypothermia, so they couldn't give us much information beyond, you'll wake up when your body is ready." Snow brushed away a tear that slid down her cheek. "Your arm is broken and they had to set your shoulder because it was dislocated. You didn't break your ankle, but it will be sore and swollen for a while." Emma nodded through all of this. "Why did you have to go to Boston yesterday? When you knew that storm was coming in?"

Emma sighed. Her heart hurt at the amount she had put her family through. She hadn't meant to deny them at all. She hadn't meant to push them away all this time, she was simply just trying to deal with all this new information in her own way. It was how Emma worked, and she couldn't just change that because she suddenly had a family. Because she suddenly had parents, and not just any parents, but loving and caring parents. Her father had ventured out in a snowstorm for God's sake to find her.

Emma locked eyes with her mother again, and motioned toward Henry. Snow smiled in acknowledgment, as she touched the boys shoulder. "Henry, why don't you go find James? Let him know that Emma's awake." Henry sighed, but nodded. With Snow's help, he climbed off of Emma's bed.

"I love you, mom." Henry's voice was merely a whisper, as he dried the rest of his tears on the sleeve of his shirt, before scampering off to locate his grandfather.

"Now. Explain."

In that moment, with her arms crossed in front of her chest, and that hurt look on her face, Emma saw more Mary Margaret than Snow White. Emma could tell the subtle differences in the personalities. Mary was more meek, quiet, while Snow was more demanding. Except for times like this, Mary would have been kind with her words, but also demanding in knowing what Emma was thinking.

"It's Henry's father."

Snow's eyebrows shot up unexpectedly. "His father?"

"He's been in jail this whole time. I didn't want Henry to know. He looks at me like I am this great hero. This person that's always going to save everyone, and I know that he wants to believe the same of his father. I couldn't bring myself to let him down, so I let him believe it, but oh God. It is so not true. He's practically a sociopath, and they were going to release him unless someone could testify as to why he shouldn't be released. That's why I went to Boston, was to make sure that he couldn't come here, and hurt my son."

Snow sit down on the edge of Emma's bed. "But Henry is his son too."

Emma scowled. "No he's not. I had some paperwork drawn up, and took it with me. After his hearing, I went to see him. I made him sign the papers. He gave up his legal right to Henry. I can't have him coming here and hurting Henry. He's already been through enough. Regina-" Emma's blood behind to boil at just the mention of her name. The machines beside Emma's bed began beeping uncontrollably.

Dr. Whale stormed into the room, and looked over his patient. "Alright. Emma here needs her rest. Visiting hours are over."

Emma glared at him. "Visiting hours aren't over for another two hours!" She insisted.

He smiled. "Let me rephrase. Visiting hours are over for you. You need rest." He peered over at Snow White.

"We'll be back soon, Emma." Snow stood up.

"Wait." Emma said, and shot the doctor a glare when he was about to protest. Emma held out her good hand. "You promise?"

Snow smiled. "Of course."

"Okay. Goodbye." Emma smiled weakly.

Snow smiled back. "Goodbye, Emma."

As soon as Snow was out of earshot, Emma's smile broadened. "I love you, mom." Sighing, she snuggled back against the bed as her eyes slowly started to drift close, the last thing on her mind was how she finally had the family she had always been searching for. The smile stayed on her lips even after she drifted asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: I don't typically do this, but the overwhelming amount of reviews that asked me to continue this, caused plot bunnies to explode inside my mind and wouldn't leave me alone. So here goes nothing. I seriously hope you all like this, and that I didn't screw it up. Also, if you were expecting it to stay light and fluffy-I just don't go that way. There will be fluff and lots of angst. With that said, here is chapter two. Enjoy!**_

* * *

Emma groans as she limps her way toward the large apartment building. Henry is holding tightly to her hand, while her other arm is hanging loosely from a sling. The blue cast is tight and makes her arm itch, but Emma knows her injuries could have been much worse, so she tries to keep her complaining to a minimum.

"Dr. Whale really doesn't want you walking on that ankle yet." The worried voice called from behind her.

Emma sighed, before stopping to look back at her mother. "I know, but I'm not really in a position to use crutches, and I am most definitely not using a wheelchair." Emma shook her head. "It's embarrassing enough that the sheriff has to be driven around town by her parents, no need to add insult to injury." Emma said, her tone sarcastic, as a smile fluttered to her lips. It was something that she had found herself doing a lot more recently. The four days she spent in the hospital, re-hydrating and making sure that her temperature was stable, was like living four days in hell. She was stuck in a bed, wearing that God-awful hospital gown that left little to the imagination. More so, even though her family visited her frequently, Emma found herself missing them so badly at times that tears actually fell down her cheeks. Emma didn't cry, at least not often, but ever since she had broken the curse, she had been doing a hell of a lot of crying.

A tugging on her good arm, brought her attention back to the present. She looked down at her son, who smiled brightly back at her. "Mom, can I have an ice cream when we get home?"

Emma laughed lightly. "Sure, kid." She released his hand only to ruffle his hair.

They started moving forward, the stairs were dead ahead, taunting her with the sheer number of them. Glancing backward, she sent a weary look toward her parents.

"Hey, Henry. Would you like a piggy back ride?" James asked, nodded in acknowledgment at his daughter.

"Of course!" Henry smiled brightly, as James bent down so that Henry could clamber onto his back.

"And we're off!" James said, before laughing. He started racing up the stairs, and the faint sounds of Henry laughing echoed of the walls.

Emma felt her mother loop their arms together. "We'll take it slow, sweetheart. If you need to stop, then stop." She smiled at Emma as they started their assent of the stairs.

Emma made it up the first flight with only moderate pain. She could handle that, but halfway up the second flight of stairs, Emma found herself panting from the pain radiating through-out her leg. Though Emma hadn't asked to sit down, Snow knew that she needed it, so she helped her daughter onto the step, and stood back to look at her.

"How's the pain?" Snow asked, her arms crossed against her chest.

"If I lie, would you know?" Emma asked, as she peeked up at her mother through her eyelashes.

"Yes." Snow said, laughing lightly. "I know you're in pain, Emma. People don't normally pant from two flights of stairs, unless their in pain or their asthmatic, and you're not asthmatic."

Emma groaned. "Maybe I am."

Snow sat down beside her. "But you're not."

Emma sighed. "No. I'm not, and yes it hurts, but I would like to step foot in my own home sometime this year. So, I'll deal with the pain now, go into the apartment, sit on the couch and take some pain pills, how about that?"

Snow just shook her head, before standing up. She carefully helped Emma onto her feet, before they continued their labored walk up the stairs. Once they made it to the correct floor, Emma stopped for a moment, a quirky smile on her lips. "We should really think about relocating to the first floor—or I may never leave the house again until I can walk on this useless thing I call a foot."

Snow just laughed, as she opened the door and watched her daughter walk into their house. As she turned to shut the door, Snow sighed contently. They were _**home**_. Her family was together, and home.

* * *

Emma groaned as she limped down the steps from her bedroom. Once she reached the bottom, she reached up to rub the remainder of sleep from her eyes.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." Called a familiar voice.

"Good morning." Emma called out, locating the direction of the voice as coming from the kitchen. "Where's Henry?"

Snow smiled softly. "James took him out to run some errands."

Emma nodded as she settled in at the table. "Please tell me that's coffee I smell."

Snow nodded. "Of course. Like I'd give you anything else."

Emma barked a laugh. "You've tried to give me hot chocolate in the morning. Don't forget that."

Snow placed a hand over her heart. "I am hurt that you would think that. That I would substitute your morning coffee for hot chocolate." Snow fought against the smile that wanted to break out on her face.

"Uh, yeah sure." Emma groaned out. "Stupid pills."

Snow set the coffee mug in front of Emma, before taking the seat beside her. "Do they not help?" She sounded concerned.

"Oh, no. They work better than anyone could ever imagine. It's just the waking up process that I have trouble overcoming."

Snow nodded. "I see."

"I might start sticking with Tylenol. I can't be this doped up. Not when I have a child to look after and a city to sheriff."

Snow shook her head. "Nope. No sheriffing for you-" She paused. "Not entirely sure that is even a word, but if it is, you are not allowed to do it."

Emma laughed mirthlessly. "Yes, mom." Her voice was sarcastic, as she lifted her coffee mug to her lips and took a tasting sip.

"So-" Snow decided to change the subject. "We never did finish that story—of why you went to Boston."

"Sure we did. I went to stop that sociopathic asshole from coming here and ruining my sons life. The end." Emma smirked at Snow over her mug of coffee.

"Not funny." Snow chaise.

"So I gave you the cliff notes. I just—don't feel like discussing it all over again. Plus, I'm fairly certain I was high on pain pills before."

Snow shook her head. "You've got to talk to someone, Emma. It's not healthy to keep all that stuff bottled up."

Emma sighed, as she looked back up at her mother. Her bottom lip trembled. "In order for you to understand the real reason why I don't want him around Henry, I'll have to tell you stuff from my past. Stuff I am not proud of. Stuff you sure as hell won't be proud of, and I just-" Emma sighed again. "I don't want to disappoint you."

Snow reached her hand out and cupped Emma's chin forcing Emma to look at her. "We all have stuff from our past that we're not proud of. It's life, Emma, but it also makes you the person you are, and I want to know that person more than anything."

Emma nodded. "Okay. Fine." She pouted slightly, before downing the rest of her coffee. "But I am going to need more of this." She raised up her empty mug.

Snow smiled. "That I can handle."

As Snow got up to get Emma some more coffee, Emma breathed deeply, trying to prepare herself for a story she had hoped never to talk about again. So when Snow sat down the newly filled mug in front of her, before reclaiming her seat, Emma stared down at the dark liquid filling her mug.

"When I said he was a sociopath, I wasn't lying. He's an awful person. He's a compulsive liar with the charm of a prince-" That caused a laugh to bubble up in her throat. Emma coughed around it. "He found me in this filthy bar. I was only eighteen and I wasn't in the best place in my life, though I had friends in really creepy low places. So I had one of the best fake ID's, and a bartender that felt like being generous, by continually refilling my glass. He walked in with this suave smile and slicked back hair, and I was unfortunately very naïve." Emma groaned, as she continued. "He spotted me right off, and was so charming, promising me the world. I got swept up in a fairy tale romance, that was more like something out of hell itself."

Emma sat back, and finally looked at her mother. Snow's eyes were piercing Emma's but they weren't judging. "He was just so sweet and nice, and I was so _**happy**_. Just a few months into our relationship I found out I was pregnant. I was actually kind of happy about it. Excited even, until his true personality started to show. It was just little things. Like him getting angry over small things, like the laundry not being done, or there being dirty dishes in the sink. Small things, but his outbursts would get worse each time, and I was starting to worry. So I followed him one day, and he got into this fight with some guy on the street because the guy ran into him." Emma sighed, pausing to drink some of her coffee. "He beat the guy up so badly that he had to be taken to the hospital, but he was able to charm the guy into not pressing charges. His friends weren't much better than him, but I was starting to really worry about bringing a child into this relationship when it was starting to look like I didn't even know him. So I started asking his friends questions, and found out that he stole from people, even his friends. He even did a few B&E's. I was so angry, I resented him for lying to me. For making me feel safe and loved, and it was just a lie. The last of his friends informed me that he was sleeping with at least three other women. My heart was broken, so—I made a rash decision. I found out where he was, grabbed a baseball bat, and vandalized his car. He came out, he was so pissed. He shoved me against the car, pointing his finger at me and screaming-" Tears welled in Emma's eyes, causing her to advert her attention from her mother to the clock on the wall.

Snow reached out and grabbed Emma's hand, squeezing it reassuringly. Sighing, Emma nodded. "I was afraid. I had seen what he was capable of, and I was six months pregnant, I couldn't take any chances. I took the baseball bat and just started hitting him. The woman he was 'just visiting' came out of her house, squealing about calling the cops. Before I had a chance to think, I heard the sirens and knew that I couldn't really run. I was big as a whale, and easily identifiable. So I just stood there, he was bleeding all over the ground and unconscious, she was standing there staring at me with her mouth gaped open. The cops pulled up and slapped cuffs on my wrists and took me off to jail. Of course the bastard pressed charges, and was practically begging for them to charge me with attempted murder." Emma paused again. "The D.A. Thought about it for a little bit, but took some mercy on me since I was pregnant, and I explained everything I knew about him. I was sentenced to six months in jail, where I gave birth to Henry. I didn't even have to think about it. I gave him up without even a second thought, because it was the best thing for him. I didn't have anything too give him. I was an almost nineteen year old, with no job, no place to live and an ex-boyfriend that bordered on sociopathic tendencies. I knew that someone else could give him a much better life than I ever thought about. So I signed the papers and sent him off-" Emma groaned, her head falling against her arm. "And he ended up in the care of someone far worse than even Henry's father ever thought about being."

Snow sighed. "Thank you, Emma. For being honest with me."

Emma nodded against her arm. "Anytime. Any other horrible stories from my past you want to hear? I'm sure I have more than one."

Snow laughed lightly. "No, I think I'm good for now. I completely understand why you want to keep him away from Henry, I don't blame you, but you shouldn't lie to Henry. He's a strong boy, and he's smart. He'll figure it out sooner or later."

Emma's head jerked up at that. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

Snow shook her head. "If you lie to him, Emma, he'll resent you for it. You know that as well as I do."

Emma sighed. "I can't hurt him. I cannot break his heart." Emma shook her head vehemently. "He's been through enough. So—when is my son coming home?" Emma's eyebrow lift suspiciously.

"About that.." Snow smiled awkwardly.

* * *

Henry bounds through the door, a smile etched on his face as he runs to the kitchen table to hug Emma. "Mom! You'll never believe it. Grandpa James took me to our special place, and promised to fix our castle."

Emma smiled at Henry, before looking up at her father. "Is that so?" Her eyebrow quirked.

"He talks about it so much. How he misses it. So I figured I could get some help and rebuild it for all the kids."

"See?" Henry's smiled widened.

"That's great, kid." Emma said, before pressing a kiss to the top of his head. She moaned quietly, realizing she hadn't taken any Tylenol since she had been up, and her body was starting it's protesting very loudly.

"Mom, are you okay?" Henry looked up at her wide eyed, fear etched on his face.

"Yeah, just hurting a bit." She said, as Snow shoved some pills toward Emma, with a glass of water. "Thanks." She smiled at her mom, before downing the pills. "See? All better now." Emma said, fighting against the grimace that wanted to cross her features.

"Can we play a game?" Henry asked, his eyes widening just enough to be called 'puppy dog eyes'.

"How about go fish? I don't think your mom could handle much more right now."

"Sure!" Henry smiled, as they all gathered around the kitchen table.

James went to grab the deck of cards, just as Emma's phone started to ring. Looking at the caller id, she grimaced slightly, before shoving herself to her feet. "I've got to take this. I'll be back in a minute, start without me."

Emma hobbled herself out of earshot, before answering the call. "Hello?"

"Yes, is this Miss Emma Swan?"

"Yeah."

"Miss Swan. This is a curtsey call from the parole hearing board. While your testimony was given great thought, but we also had to take into account your prior arrest. We're sorry to inform you that with all the evidence, we simply just didn't have enough to withhold bail from one, Garrett Jameson. He will be released in three days."

Emma felt her face grow red, as she squeezed the phone tightly in her hand. "Thank you." She said simply, before hanging up the phone. Turning around, she saw her mother standing in front of her. Emma backed herself against the wall, and let her body slid down. Pulling her knees to her chest, tears started to streak down her cheeks. She looked at her mom with pleading eyes. "They're going to release him. In three days."

* * *

_**A/N: So...did ya see that coming? I did, it's what the plot bunny told me to write. I kind of know where this is going, I'm kind of hoping that it'll end within the next few chapters, unless the plot bunnies take me off on a different course. So, go on and review, cos it makes the plot bunnies happy!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Look at this! A new chapter. You guys make me feel so awesome with all your reviews, that you're keeping my little plot bunnies alive! So, this chapter is a bit of a bore as far as action goes (don't worry, it's gonna heat up on that end) however, it is full of all kinds of good angst. I also wanted to show some of the other relationships. IE: James&Emma, Snow&Henry ... stuff like that. So I mixed it up and threw together some of the other relationships. Also, if your looking for other characters to show up, some might make an appearance, but I won't tell how or why. It's a surprise. So keep reading and definitely review. **_

* * *

Snow sank down to the floor beside Emma, as tears streamed down her cheeks. "He's going to come here. He hates me and will do anything to get back at me." A glimmer of hate shone in Emma's eyes as she spoke. "I should have killed him."

Snow simply shook her head. "That wouldn't have helped anyone, Emma. You are better than that, and you know it. Besides, if you had, you never would have been able to been there for Henry."

That sobered up Emma slightly, as she turned glassy eyes toward her mother. "But I'm not better than that." Emma frowned. "If I hadn't needed Regina's help in saving Henry..."

Snow laughed. "That, dear, is an entirely different subject. Believe me, I've come close to killing her on more than one occasion. She just brings that out in people."

Emma laughed lightly. "Murderous rage?" Emma cocked her eyebrow.

"More so, than you will ever know." Snow smiled back at her.

Emma sighed, as she leaned against Snow's shoulder, leaning her head against Snow's. "This is nice-" Emma paused, sighing heavily. She had never really apologized, not out-loud, for how she had treated Snow prior to her injury. "I'm sorry, mom." Emma's lips quirked slightly at the way the word sounded coming out of her mouth.

Snow reached her hand over and patted Emma's cheek. "What for, dear?"

Emma raised up, looking at Snow. Her eyes were soft and caring. "For acting how I did—when the curse broke. I didn't mean to push you and dad away. That was never my intention. I just—a lot changed, really fast and I needed to process it all. I have to do that alone-"

Snow merely smiled at Emma. "Not anymore. Your father and I are not going anywhere. We're never leaving you again. You're kind of stuck with us."

Emma laughed lightly, as Snow pulled herself to her feet. "Why does that feel like a threat?" Emma murmured as Snow helped Emma to her feet.

Snow looped her arm around Emma's waist, letting her daughter rest most of her weight on her frame. "Not so much a threat, as a promise. Depends how you look at it, I suppose." Snow countered.

"You have a point." Emma said, shaking her head.

Snow stopped them suddenly, and tilted her head toward Emma. "No matter what, Emma. No matter what comes. Whether it's Henry's father or Regina—whoever or whatever comes, we'll face it together. Promise me."

Emma's eyes shone with fresh tears, as she nodded her head. "I'll try. I've been on my own so long—I just..."

Snow nodded. "I know." She smirked, as they continued to walk back toward the kitchen.

* * *

**Three Days Later**

Emma paced the house with renewed force. Her ankle protested loudly, causing her limp to become more prominent. James eyed his daughter wearily, with one eyebrow cocked. He had noticed a slight shift in how Emma was acting around him and Henry. She was more reserved, quiet, and rarely smiled. James also noticed when his wife picked up on this, and would coax their daughter into conversation, or say something that would cause her to laugh or smile.

However, yesterday Snow had decided to return to the school, since the children did indeed need education, and Snow had been a teacher previously. This morning a small, hushed argument formed when Henry went to leave with Snow, declaring that he too was returning to school. Emma had forcefully explained that he wasn't, and Henry got upset.

Snow had pulled Emma aside, and though neither of them raised their voices, James could feel the tense between the two all the way across the room. It had piqued his interest, that the two were upset over something, but felt no need to share this information with him. If he dwelled on it too long though, it started to cause him to worry and he felt a pang of hurt in his chest that they were hiding something from him. Potentially something bad or dangerous.

So, after Snow and Henry left for school this morning, James decided he was going to broach the subject with his daughter. After he watched Emma make her sixth circle through the kitchen, he stood up and grabbed her wrist. He made sure to keep a steady grip on her so that she didn't fall.

"Sit, please. You're going to fall, darling. That ankle is far too weak." his voice was soft, and his eyes were softer.

Emma turned to face her father, and gasped. Though he had tried to hide it, he knew the instant she looked at him, that she could see the hurt on his face. "Dad?" She asked, as she let him guide her back to the kitchen table and eased her into a chair.

"I know that you and your mother are hiding something, Emma. Normally it wouldn't bother me, I get it. It's a mother and daughter thing, but from the way that you and your mother are acting, whatever you're hiding is potentially dangerous..."

Emma sighed, her head leaning against her hand. "It's Henry's father. He's getting released from prison today."

James nodded. "So?"

Emma looked up at her father, the sheer amount of nonchalance made her angry. She stood up quickly, instantly regretting it, as her ankle protested in the art of giving out. Emma nearly crashed to the ground, but James bolted out of his chair and caught her around the waist before her backside could make contact with the hard tiled floor.

"He was in prison and he's a sociopath. Which of those seem to give you the ease of nonchalance?"

James seemed to think this over, as he lowered both of them to the floor, figuring that Emma would have a harder time getting up from this position. "I understand where this could be a problem, but unless I know what happened, Emma, then I cannot be upset by the fact that Henry's father could come here."

Emma groaned, her head falling forward into her good hand. "I really wish you would have asked mom. I seriously do not want to tell this story again." She spoke through her hand, before cocking her head in her father's direction. One look told her that he wasn't going to give up until she told him, and she also knew that she could only benefit if he knew the truth. "Ten years ago.." Emma started, as she fought against the tears that pressed against her eyes. Reliving this story once again was not on her agenda for the remainder of her life.

* * *

Snow watched the kids file out of her classroom, all except for one. The school day had been long, as had the previous day. Though teaching came easily, thankfully because of her memories as Mary Margaret, Snow found that she'd much rather spend her days at home. With her family gathered around her. Emma needed her right now, but Snow knew that if the town didn't start getting back to some semblance of normal that things from the past. Things from their other world would start appearing. Old feuds, were the main concern. So as long as it seemed like everything was moving forward, then hopefully things from the past could stay buried long enough for Emma to heal properly.

Snow checked the time, before smiling at Henry. She hated keeping anything from her grandson. He was too smart and sweet to be continually lied to, yet she agreed with her daughter. He had enough bad stuff happen in his young life, that a little white lie about who his father really was wouldn't harm anything. However, that little voice in the back of Snow's mind did ask the question of what they were going to do, if or when Henry's father showed up.

"Are you ready to go home, Henry?" Snow asked softly.

Henry smiled widely at his grandmother, before quickly nodding his head. "I love school and everything, but I miss my mom." Henry's smile faltered slightly, as Snow realized that he felt bad about getting angry with her.

"I'm sure she misses you too, Henry. You're mother loves you very much."

Henry's smiled returned. "She loves you too."

Snow nodded. "And I couldn't be happier about that."

They both stood up, as Snow gathered both of their jackets, and Henry tossed his book-bag over his shoulders. "Grandma Snow, do you think that I shouldn't go to school either? I mean, it's just, my mom seemed really upset about me going back. I just wished she would tell me why." Henry eyed his grandmother carefully, as he waited for her to answer.

"You're mother just worries about you, and she's not sure what to do about that. All of this, the whole family thing, it's very new to her, and she's struggling to figure it out."

Henry nodded his head. "Yeah. I understand, I just—I don't like it that she thinks I'm mad at her. Because I'm not. I was upset, because I like school and wanted to spend more time with you."

Snow smiled. "I know, and I talked to your mom. She understands now, Henry, and she never for once thought you were angry at her, just upset with her. She knows that you love her."

Henry put a finger to his lip as he thought over what his grandmother said, before smiling and nodding his head. "Good. Glad we could have this talk, Grandma Snow." Henry wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly, before grabbing her hand and following her out of the school building.

* * *

Later that night everyone sat at the kitchen table. Emma laughed lightly as she speared a piece of food with her fork and shoved it in her mouth. Henry spoke around his mouthful of food, eliciting a chuckle from everyone at the table.

In the back of her mind, Emma realized how good it felt to have a family that did this. That cared for each other and loved each other for who they were and how they were. She never had that growing up. Most of the time she was lucky when she had food to eat, let alone anyone to eat it with. So this was a nice change of pace. Like a warm, summer breeze tickling at her face.

Much too quickly though, dinner was over, and the table was vacated. Snow and Emma sat cross-legged on the floor, chuckling over a card game while Henry and James did the dishes.

"How was your day—really?" Snow asked, her eyebrow cocked.

Emma smiled softly. "Not too bad. Had a nice chat with dad."

Snow's eyebrow cocked further. "Did you now?"

Emma sighed. "He was upset that we were hiding things from him, and he called me on it. As painful as it was the first time, retelling my past indiscretion to my father was nearly unbearable."

Snow gasped. "You told him—everything?"

Emma nodded. "He took it well. He didn't judge me, which was what I was afraid of, though he is not happy about our prospective visitor. I believe the words _I'll kill him_ and _bare hands_ were thrown around."

Snow sighed, as a soft smile crossed her lips. "That's your father. Always protective of the ones he loves. Especially his only daughter and only grandson."

Emma nodded softly as she remembered the story that Snow had told her one of the nights she spent in the hospital. She was starting to feel better and had talked Dr. Whale into allowing her mother to stay past visiting hours, since Emma hated being alone so much. Snow had told her about why they had put her in the wardrobe, and sent her away and how her father had given his life in that world to ensure her safety. Every since then, Emma hadn't been able to see one ounce of David in him any longer. David Nolan was a meek and cowardly man. There wasn't much of any good that Emma could say about the man that David Nolan was, mainly because that man had lied and cheated on his wife and he had hurt her best friend. Emma had never thought very highly of David, which was why she had shied away from James more than she had Snow, because to her, he was still David. However, after her father saved her life that night and after Snow had explained how he had given his life to save hers, Emma knew that the man he was now would never be meek and cowardly.

Prince James, her father was a brave man. The kind of man that would give his life to save another. He had proven that time and again, though Emma hadn't ever really seen it for herself, she knew that her mother wouldn't lie to her. Then again, the proof was in Henry's storybook that Emma had caught herself reading at night sometimes when sleep eluded her. Stories of her parents past lives had her really upset that she had missed so much time with them.

"So, girls. What's on tap for tonight? Another rousing game of go fish?" James asked, as he looked down at his two favorite women.

"Actually, we thought a movie night was in order." Snow smiled, as she scrambled to her feet.

Emma nodded in agreement. "God, it's been so long since I've seen a good movie!" She said, as Snow and James helped their daughter to her feet. She wavered slightly, as her ankle protested from all the pacing she had forced on it today.

"Sounds good to me." Henry said, before a yawn over took him.

"Sounds like you need to go to bed." Emma said sternly, as she eyed the stairs. A frown etched on her face, knowing she'd never make it up and down the stairs alone.

"I'll put him to bed." Snow called, as she motioned for Henry to follow her.

"Thanks, mom." Emma called as Snow and Henry disappeared up the stairs and out of view.

* * *

Emma groaned, as she turned onto her side, her body shoving something onto the floor. The crash it made, caused her to jerk away, before hissing at the pain that radiated in her arm. "Stupid broken arm." Emma muttered as she peered over the side of her bed at the floor. Henry's storybook laid flat on the ground, it had flipped open, and she gasped. It was one of the only stories in the book she hadn't read. She hadn't been able to force herself to go there, and feel the pain she knew that particular story would bring about.

The storybook's illustration of him was so dead on perfect that her heart leapt into her throat. Leaning down, she grabbed the book and pulled it into her lap and brushed her thumb against the illustration of the huntsman, but she had never known him as that. No, the only person she saw when she looked at that picture was Graham, a man with one of the kindest hearts she had ever met. Someone that was yanked away from her far too soon.

Sighing, Emma forced herself to shut the book, and sit it aside. "I miss you so much." Emma whispered, as she stood up and wobbled toward her closet. Pulling the door open as silently as she could, so that she didn't wake up Henry, she peered inside. Looking toward the back, a sad smile crossed her face. "I'll always miss you." The sadness seeped into her voice, as she pulled out his jacket. Emma wasn't sure why she had hidden it in the closet, but she felt silly keeping it. Graham was dead, and he wasn't coming back, no matter how hardly she wished for it. "Nothing fixes dead. Not even magic." Emma whispered, the same words that Rumpelstiltskin had muttered in one of the stories in Henry's book.

A knock on the door brought Emma back to the present, hastily she shoved Graham's jacket back into the closet, before quickly closing it and hobbling toward the stairs. Scowling at the offending steps, Emma carefully eased her way down them. One by one. It was still far too early in the morning, her mother wasn't even awake yet, which made her insides freeze. Who would be knocking on the door this early in the morning? Her first initial thought was Regina, and a wicked smile crossed her lips as she visualized the amount of damage she could cause with the cast on her arm.

By the time she reached the front door, whoever was on the other side was losing their patience and began knocking in ten second intervals. "Oh I swear you better not wake the kid." Emma grumbled as she reached for the door handle and unlocked it before throwing it open. Her stomach tumbled uncomfortably as the person on the other side smiled at her.

"Hello, Emma."

Emma felt like she might throw up her stomach was revolting at the sight in front of her. "Hello, Garrett." Emma eyed her cast momentarily, going back to her Regina thoughts, and wondered if the same would work for Garrett before dismissing the idea. "Care to leave?" She glared at him.

"Actually, I came for my son."

Emma laughed mirthlessly. "Not yours, anymore. Remember, you signed your rights to him away. So why don't you just turn around, walk down those steps and get the hell out of storybrooke."

Garrett rushed forward, shoving his weight against the door, as he sneered at her. "I'll kill you this time, Emma. You may have gotten the better of me ten years ago, but I will kill you this time and I will not even think twice."

"I suggest you leave, before I make you leave."

Emma jumped at the new voice that called from behind her. A smirk crossed her lips as James stood behind her, his arms crossed against his chest.

"Who the hell are you?"

James smiled brightly, though his eyes still held a menacing look to them. "I'm Emma's father, and I don't take kindly to anyone threatening her or my grandson. So I suggest you leave."

Garrett's mouth bobbed open and close a few times, before he leveled a glare at Emma. "I thought you were an orphan?"

Emma felt like Garrett had slapped her across the face. Memories from her past came flying back to the forefront of her mind, and it caused anger to boil her blood. Her face turned red as she glared at Garrett. "Leave, or I will arrest you."

Garrett laughed. "Right. So says the ex-con."

"No, says the sheriff of Storybrooke. Now, go!" Emma yelled as she shoved her good hand against Garrett's chest and slammed the door in his face. Emma barked out in pain, as her ankle gave out on her and she wound up on the floor. James stared at her in shock for a moment, before he knelt down beside her.

"Emma, are you alright." Tears glistened in her eyes as she shook her head back and forth. James pulled her into his chest, as she started to cry.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: Woot! Another chapter. I've never written so quickly on anything before. You guys truly inspire! Keep up all the fantastic reviews! **_

* * *

Snow yawned as she stretched the knots from her shoulders and back. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she took in the sight in front of her. She was nearly certain that she had been woken nearly an hour early due to some sort of commotion, but seeing her husband and daughter embracing, one of which was in tears. Snow felt a familiar tug at her heart as she rushed forward. James looked up at her pleadingly, as Snow took his place as he started to pace with his fist next to his lips. His teeth assaulted his thumb nail with renewed vigor.

"Emma, baby. What's wrong?" Snow's concern was evident in the fear in her voice.

Through tear blurred eyes, Emma looked up at her mother. "He came here. I don't even know where I live, but he found me—us." Emma swallowed hard, unable to force out the next words. She looked over Snow's shoulder, pleading with her father.

He sighed, as he knelt down next to his two favorite women. "Snow." This caught her attention, as her head jerked toward James. The soft concern on his face was enough to make her heart start racing. "He threatened Emma."

Snow gasped, looking back and forth between her daughter, who was fighting off a new batch of tears, and her husband, who was fighting off the want to strangle the idiot who threatened his only daughter. "Threatened how?"

Emma sighed, as she pulled away from her mother and sat with her back against the wall. She let her head pound against it for good measure. Emma couldn't hate herself more in that moment, unless of course Garrett actually harmed one of her family members. "He—uhmm-threatened to kill me." Emma spoke through the tears that rolled down her cheeks.

"Like hell." James spat, his hands balled into fists at his sides.

Emma shook her head as she shot up into a standing position, regretting that decision as her ankle twisted to the side, nearly causing her to crash back to the floor. James reached out his arms to steady her, before she spun around to glare at him. "You will not do anything!" Her voice was quiet, if only to not wake up Henry, but the harshness of her whispered voice held it's point.

"What do you mean? I am trained for fighting, Emma."

Emma placed her good arm on her hip, as she continued to glare at him. "And I'm the sheriff, you're point?" James mouth bobbed open, but Emma interrupted him. "No! You will not do anything." This time her voice was more pleading then harsh, as mouth trembled around the next words. Words that she never thought she'd be able to mutter out-loud. "I just got my family back, and I will not lose them again. Do you hear me?" She waited until James gave her a curt nod. "I mean it, dad." She could tell that her words struck a cord with him, but he was a proud and stubborn man and that he wouldn't give up that easily. He turned his back on her. Emma sighed, before turning her attention to her mother who was crying silently on the floor. "You either, mom. No one is going to do anything, except for me. I am the one he's after, I am the one he's getting back at. I will not let him drag my family into this mess."

Snow stood up carefully before wrapping her arms around Emma. She turned her mouth toward Emma's ear. "I'll keep an eye on your father."

Emma nodded. "Thanks-" Her words died on her lips as Henry stood on the stairs wiping the sleep from his eyes as he stared at the three adults in his life.

"What's going on?"

* * *

Emma sat next to Henry on his bed. A frown developed on his small face, as he noticed the tear tracks on Emma's face. "Mom?"

Emma sighed. "You're not going to school for a while, Henry."

Henry stood up, his face scrunched up. "What do you mean? You promised!"

Emma felt her chest tighten at the hurt expression on her son's face. She had sworn to herself that she would never hurt him, the way that she was hurt growing up. The many broken promises were the least of her worries growing up, but with Henry that was the only thing that she would ever, even attempt to break. "I know, kid."

"Why not?" He asked, defiantly. His little arms crossed over his chest.

If the situation wasn't so dire, Emma would have laughed. With that scrunched up expression and those arms crossed, he looked exactly like Emma did when she was upset about something. "Because I said so, kid."

Henry's face broke, the hurt shining through. "I'm ten, mom. Please be honest."

Emma stared at Henry for a long moment. How exactly did she fight against that? How could she tell him no, or lie to him now? Henry was definitely too smart for his own good, if only for this particular moment. Emma knew that once the words left her mouth she would never be able to take them back. That Henry will know that his father is a deadbeat piece of crap that would rather kill her then look at her. "It's your father."

His eyes widened as his head snapped toward Emma. "Yeah?"

"He's back in town-"

Henry stood up and stared at Emma. "You—lied." It wasn't an accusation, since by saying what she said practically admitted to her guilt of lying. Instead it sounded more like a broken plea. Like he couldn't believe she'd ever do something like that to him. The expression on his face broke Emma's heart, since it so mirrored her expression from earlier, when Garrett had said the word _orphan_.

"I did, and I'm so sorry, Henry."

"No!" Henry yelled, his face changing from one of hurt to one of anger. "What makes you any different than _her_?" He asked, his finger pointing at Emma. He didn't have to say her name for Emma to know who he was referring to.

Emma felt a tear trickle down her cheek, but didn't say anything. She knew he'd be upset, but she hadn't expected this amount of anger. Still, she had earned this, she had been the one to decide to lie to her son.

"Henry, let me explain."

"No!" He squealed at her, before he took off running for the stairs.

Emma jumped up, groaning as her ankle protested the movement, and limped after him. "Henry Swan!" He ran down the stairs and past his stunned grandparents, slamming the front door behind him. "Henry!" Emma screamed from the top of the stairs. She decided right then and there, if she ever got the chance, she was going to finish the job she had started ten years earlier.

* * *

Garrett kicked his foot against the sidewalk, his head down as he entered the only diner in the small, pathetic town. He walked toward the booth in the furthest corner of the small building, before sitting down. A menu was thrust in his face, causing him to look up. A young woman stood beside the table, the highlights of red was bright against the darkness of the black.

"I'll just have a coffee—and perhaps-" He let his sentence trail off as he winked at her.

"Not on your life, weird stranger guy." Ruby made a face, as she snatched the menu from the table and walked away.

"Suit yourself." Garrett grumbled, as he stared at the table. "Won't be here long anyway." It wasn't long, before he felt the presence of someone standing beside him again. Looking up, he watched as Ruby shoved the coffee mug on the table, along with a few creamers and a packet of sugar.

"Enjoy." Her voice held a certain amount of sarcasm, before turning away from Garrett. He could see her tense shoulders relax, as the bell above the door rang out a new occupant, and a young boy ran in. He quickly went to the counter and climbed up on a stool.

"Henry!" Ruby called out, as she quickened her pace to go meet the young boy.

Garrett scowled. "Stupid kids." He didn't really want his son. He hated kids, but he also didn't want Emma to have him. Then again, he didn't need to take his son away from Emma to make himself happy. A quick bullet to the head would serve his purpose, just as well. No one made a full out of Garrett Jameson and lived to tell about it. He knew that he was currently in violation of his parole, and that he would more than likely go back to jail when his parole officer figured out he was gone, but then again he didn't care.

The bell above the door rang out again, this time he smiled as a woman sauntered in. Her jet black hair was cut short, but in an extremely attractive way. He watched as the patrons of the diner scowled at the new attendant, before the bitter waitress sauntered toward her, standing in front of the young boy, her hands on her hips. "You're not welcome here, Regina. In fact, you're not welcome in town—so leave."

Regina scowled back at Ruby. "You know damn well that I can't leave." She sighed heavily, before sitting down.

"Too bad." Ruby huffed, before turning her attention to the young boy again.

Garrett knew if anyone in town would help him, it would be the very downtrodden woman sitting two booths in front of him. Grabbing his cup of coffee, Garrett stood up and walked toward Regina, before sitting back down. "You're awful beautiful to look so sad." He smiled his charming, crooked smile at her. Flashing his perfect white teeth, which was not easy to keep up with in prison.

Regina glared up at him. "Do I know you?" She asked, an almost permanent scowl on her face.

"Nope, but I'd love to get to know you, beautiful." Regina made a grab for her purse. Garrett reached out to stop her. "Alright look, I need some help, and you seem to be the perfect candidate."

Regina leaned forward. "Oh yeah, how's that?" Her eyebrow raised, as she tried to place who this guy was.

"Because no one here seems to like you. Seems to me, you've got some kind of grudge. I'm just hoping you have a grudge against someone I'd like to get revenge on."

Regina's eyebrow cocked. "Who is that?"

"Emma Swan."

Regina smiled. "And how do you know, Emma?"

"I'm the father of her child—and she tried to kill me."

Regina placed her hands together as her smile grew. "I would love to help you." Regina cocked her head to the side, and barely saw as Henry dashed out of the diner. Oh, she'd have her son back before long, and hopefully one pain in the side savior would be six feet under too.

* * *

Emma hobbled around the apartment, as James stared at her with a stern expression. "I have to find him."

"I know." James said simply, his arms crossed over his chest. So that was where she got that. "But Snow's on it. She'll find him. You need to rest, or your ankle is never going to heal. I am certain you'd eventually like to leave the house and become sheriff again?" James raised an eyebrow.

He had a point, but Emma knew she wouldn't leave the house until Garrett was taken care of. She wasn't leaving Henry's side until that bastard was gone, whether it was under his own accord or if Emma had to force it. "Yes, I would, but he could have Henry as we speak."

James walked toward Emma, placing one hand on each shoulder. "Does he know what Henry looks like?" Emma shook her head. "Then he doesn't. Unless Henry just walks up to strange people and asks if they're his father."

Emma snorted a laugh. "I doubt it, but the kid's kind of odd sometimes."

James smiled as the door burst open. Emma turned around just in time for Henry to plow his small body into Emma's uncertain legs. James stood behind her, making sure she stayed upright. Emma's face burst into a smile. "Oh, God, Henry! I was so worried. Never, ever, ever, ever—do that again." Emma finally finished when she realized that she was just repeating herself.

"I think—I saw my dad." Henry's nose wrinkled in distaste. "He wants to hurt you." Henry's lips pouted. "And he has help."

This caught Emma's attention, as the front door finally closed, and Emma saw her mother stoop beside her family. Offering her mother a smile, Emma focused her attention on her now crying son. "Help, how?"

Henry swiped at the tears on his face. "Regina."

Emma's face grew white, and she felt like she might just fall over, if her father hadn't been holding her up. "Regina—like-the-"

Henry nodded, as he finished her sentence. "The evil queen."

Groans could be heard around the house as they all realized just how serious all of this had gotten. Emma knew she could handle Garrett on her own. She had before, and she had been very visibly pregnant at that time. The thought of going toe to toe with both made her skin crawl. No matter how badly Emma wanted to rip every little strand of hair from Regina Mills head, she knew that she didn't have the capabilities. Not since Rumpelstiltskin had returned magic to Storybrooke. That's when it all fell into place. Emma sighed. "I need to talk to Mr. Gold."

"You mean, stinky old Rumpelstiltskin?" Henry asked.

Emma nodded. "If anyone is powerful enough to go head to head with Regina, it's him."

Though they all wanted to deny it, they knew it to be the truth. Snow and James had seen what she was capable of up close and personal, and though Emma would love to forget, she still had very vivid images of Henry collapsing due to that damned apple turnover. It was time Regina truly got what was coming to her, Garrett too.

* * *

_**A/N: Apologies if Henry seemed a bit OOC, I just foresee him freaking out like that if/when he finds out that Emma lied to him. He just so openly trusting of Emma to tell him the truth, so to find out she broke that trust. I foresee that causing some issues. **_


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: Alright, let me start out by saying, I am not even remotely sure where the first half of this chapter came from. Though I think it might stem from the fact that we got like-zero closure on the whole Graham thing. I mean, if he's like DEAD, dead...then some closure would have been nice, that is all I'm saying. We never saw Emma grieve his death (which would have been painfully beautiful) and we've yet to see her piece together the fact that Regina killed him (hopefully in season two)...so this I suppose was my brain's way of fixing that. I pretty much akin this to Charlie's death on Lost-and the amount of no closure we got on that. A couple of tears does not count as closure! That's all I'm saying...okay...rant done...Also, if I ruined Lost for anyone-I apologize-but if you've seen Lost, then you know what I'm talking about! **_

* * *

Emma's eyes slowly opened as she blinked away the excess sleep. Her eyes, albeit blurry, found the alarm clock on her nightstand and groaned. Five-thirty in the morning was far too early for anyone to be awake. Sighing, Emma went to roll over, before a smile crept onto her face. If she got up now she'd likely be able to get dressed and ready before her father even woke up. She could go see Rumpelstiltskin without him, which is what she planned on doing anyway. Until he had vehemently refused to even allow her out of the apartment without him. Snow and Henry had backed her father, and ganged up against her until she was talked into a corner. Reluctantly she agreed to having him come with her, but this was nearly perfect.

Groaning, Emma rose to her feet and hobbled carefully over toward her closet to pick out her clothes for the day. Rifling through the clothing that lined the closet, her eyes found the leather jacket in the back of the closet. Sighing, Emma's fingers grazed the material, as tears sprang to her eyes. _Screw it_, she thought, as she pulled the jacket from it's hanger and waddled back over toward the bed and sat down on the edge, careful to remain quiet. She ran her fingers against the jacket as her tears splashed against the material.

Emma had gotten fairly good at hiding the pain that still tore at her heart. He might have died many months ago, Emma couldn't bring herself to get over his death. He had been fine, healthy—a heart attack just didn't seem right. Henry had been so certain that his death had been caused by the curse. That Regina had something to do with Graham's death, but at the time—she hadn't believed. The curse was just something that Henry had conjured up in his mind, something to help him deal with the real world. That's what Emma had thought at the time. So—if the curse was real—did that mean that Regina had killed Graham?

Emma eyed the leather bound book that sat in between Emma and Henry's bed. It was perched on the edge of the nightstand, from where she had placed it when Garrett had shone up. Her fingers roamed across the cover of the book, tracing the letters. If she did this, there was no going back. It was the only story in the book that she hadn't forced herself to read. All she knew was that Graham was The Huntsman, but for the life of her she couldn't remember the story. She knew that he had something to do with her mother's story, but Emma couldn't be for sure on the details.

Without another thought for fear that she would back out again, Emma grasped the book in her hand and pulled it toward her. She flipped it open, and gasped in a breath. That illustration was so dead on, and yet so far off. The face, the hair, was Graham in every way, but the fur tasseled around the neck of his clothing was not. Graham wore tight button down shirts with dorky vests, not whatever the man in this illustration was wearing.

"Ugh." Emma groaned, as she finally pulled her eyes away from the illustration. Her eyes started to graze the words, carefully, taking in each phrase. If she was going to do this, she wanted to do it right. She wanted to know his entire story, and remember it for all time, since that was how long he would be with her. Her heart far too broken and fragile to even think of giving it to someone else. She hadn't even thought of giving it to Graham, but all his damn corny jokes and heart-melting smiles broke through her defenses faster than anyone had ever been able to, and left her a fragile mess. Emma hated being fragile and broken.

Her eyes continued to slowly roam the pages, absorbing the information until she came to the part that included her mother. Suddenly The Huntsman's story came back to her. He had given up his heart to the Evil Queen to save her mother. Which meant two things. One, that damn evil bitch had caused Graham's death. Emma knew she should have killed her when she had, had the chance. The second thing was that she had owed Graham her life. If he hadn't spared her mother, then—she never would have been born—and neither would have Henry. She owed Graham so much, and he wasn't even alive for her to thank him properly.

"I am so sorry, Graham." Emma whispered. "I wish I had believed you, maybe then—maybe I could have saved you. I miss you everyday, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Maybe that's my fate, since I couldn't save you like you did my mother and ultimately me-" Emma rolled her eyes. She had never felt more stupid, talking to someone who was not only not there, but was dead. Yet, on some level it made her feel better. Like she had been dying to say those words out-loud for so long.

"Mom." Emma groaned. She hadn't realized that she was crying so loudly.

"It's okay, Henry." Emma said through a broken sob. "Go back to sleep." She forced out around her tearful sobs.

She heard the springs in his bed groan, and she knew that he was going to come sit beside her. "I'm sorry, mom. That you're sad."

The pain in Henry's voice as he said that only caused Emma to cry harder. In that moment she realized that she had never even really grieved his death. She was Emma Swan, she didn't grieve because she didn't let anyone close enough to have to grieve them—until Graham—Mary Margaret—Henry. Everyone in this town. Every single person in this town had slowly chipped away at her walls until they crumbled, and she couldn't force them back up again.

"Mom. What should I do?" Henry asked, his voice sounding so helpless, as he patted her back.

She couldn't even form words, as the sobs wracked through her body. It was causing her arm to throb in pain, which only made her cry more. Without another word, Henry stood up and ran out the door. He didn't have to say anything, because Emma knew what he was going to do, and it was exactly what she needed. Quicker than she thought, Snow came in through the door and rushed over to Emma's good side and sat beside her.

"Oh honey." Snow spoke softly. Her eyes taking in the book and jacket perched on her lap. Quickly, Snow gathered both things from Emma's lap, and sat them aside, before pulling Emma against her chest. "Ssh, sweetie. It's okay. I'm here."

Slowly Emma's sobs started to slow and dissipate until she was left with only a few lingering hiccup sobs. The pain throbbing through her arm was causing the tears from drying for good, but she was able to pull herself into a sitting position, as Snow's hand brushed away a few stray tears trickling down Emma's cheeks.

"Thanks, mom." Emma spoke, her voice heavy. She was growing tired again, having wept out all of her energy.

"I wasn't aware that you had this-" Snow paused, grabbing the jacket in her hands. "Or that you were even still—"

Emma looked up at Snow, tears flushed against her eyelashes. "I don't think I'll ever get over him, and it scares me. I've—never felt anything like this before."

Snow smiled softly, as she stood up and placed the jacket back into the closet. "That's because you've never truly felt love—not _**true love**_. I am so sorry, Emma." Emma nodded, as she watched her mom move the storybook from her bed. "Lay back down, dear."

Emma sighed, but complied, she was exhausted again. "I don't want you to go." Emma said, even though she hated sounding so weak, she just wanted her mom to lay beside her. To tell her that everything would be okay.

"Of course, dear." Snow smiled sadly. She turned back toward Henry. "You go back to bed as well." Snow said firmly. Henry nodded, before climbing back under his blankets.

Emma grunted and groaned until she had moved over enough to give Snow room to lay down beside her. Snow lifted her arm, and Emma curled up against her mother's side. She could be weak just this once. Her eyes slowly started a downward assent, as Snow ran her hand through Emma's hair. "It's all going to be okay, Emma. You have people who love you and care about you. We will take care of you. Always." Emma smiled softly as her eyes closed again and her breathing evened out.

* * *

Emma groaned when she woke up again. The sun was shining brightly behind the drawn curtain in her room. A glance to the right confirmed her suspicions that Henry was already awake, which meant her mother and father probably were too. She eyed the clock and rolled her eyes.

"Seriously?" Emma moaned out to herself. It was nearly ten in the morning. Granted, Emma had no plans of going to the station until her little Garrett and Regina problem was taken care of, she did want to be up before nearly noon. Ten was pushing it.

Throwing her blanket from her body with her good arm, Emma struggled to pull herself into a sitting position, before hobbling to her feet. Though the pain in her ankle was getting better, Emma figured if she stayed off of it more than it probably would be nearly healed by now. Be that as it may, her current situation called for her to walk—or in her case, hobble around—a lot.

Carefully making her way down the stairs, she was greeted with three smiling faces. "That's just creepy." Emma sighed, her eyes rolling, as she stepped off the last step. Snow met her halfway, pushing a mug of cocoa in her hands. "Cinnamon?"

"Like I would give you a mug of cocoa without it." Snow said, laughter in her voice.

"Good point." Emma said, her lips pierced in a thoughtful way. "Thanks." She said as she lifted the mug to her lips and taking a generous sip. "So, what's with this, letting me sleep until ten?" Emma asked, as she seated herself at the kitchen table.

Henry looked between both of his grandparents, before shrugging. "It was their idea." He grinned, before leaping off his chair and running up to Emma. "Are you okay?" He asked in a serious voice. His face sobered, the smile dropping off his face.

Emma smiled sadly at Henry, ruffling his hair under her hand. "Yeah, I'm alright, kid."

"Good." Henry perked up a little, as he wrapped his arms around Emma's body. "I love you, mom." He spoke against her side.

"I love you too, Henry." Emma sighed. "I'm sorry that I worried you last night, kid."

Henry ducked his head out from underneath Emma's arm, to look at her. "I was afraid something was wrong—until I saw the book and jacket." His lips puckered out sadly. "I'm sorry that you're sad. I miss him too." Henry said, and Emma could see the flash of hurt cross his face.

She had forgotten that Graham and Henry had been close—mainly because Graham had been close with Regina. There went her blood boiling again. Emma closed her eyes for a moment, and took a deep breath, before looking back at her son.

"I know, kid. Don't worry though, I'm going to take care of it—her." Emma said, her eyes fixating on the wall just over Henry's head. "Speaking of, I'm going to run back upstairs and take a shower. Once I'm dressed, I'm leaving to see _him_." Emma couldn't force the words out. She nearly laughed at the way Henry's nose wrinkled at her words, but she turned toward her father, before speaking again. "If you're still planning on accompanying me, then I suggest you get ready."

James nodded, before standing up. He walked toward Emma and kissed the top of her head, before running his hand over Henry's head, and kissing Snow on the cheek. "I'll be ready by the time you get back down here, Emma." James said softly, before disappearing into his and Snow's room.

"Ugh." Emma groaned. "I am a grown woman. I can do this on my own." She spoke loudly, hoping James could hear her.

A familiar hand laid upon her shoulder. She didn't have to look behind her to see Snow standing behind her. "After the last time you wandered off—I'm fairly certain that anything that could be potentially dangerous, James will not allow you to do alone." Snow could feel her daughter tense at her words. "He's worried. About all of us. Regina was strong enough when there was no magic, but now that magic has returned-" Snow's sentence cut off, before she came to stand in front of Emma. "I am worried about what's she is capable of. Do remember, dear, she was the cause of the curse-"

Emma sighed. "I know. Believe me—I know." Emma's hand unconsciously ruffled Henry's hair as images of him hooked up to various machines and being pronounced dead ran through her mind.

* * *

James got out of his truck, and roamed around to the other side to open Emma's door. Emma glared at him for a moment, before easing herself down from the truck. When her ankle didn't almost give out on her, Emma fought not to smile, and decided to level another glare at her father.

"You did this on purpose." Emma huffed. She wasn't really angry, just more annoyed by the fact that her father had on insisting that they take his truck, since they had only recently was able to get Emma's car towed back to town. The tire still flat on one side, though James had promised to fix it as soon as he could.

"No, I didn't. I just don't think that your capable of driving."

Emma continued to glare at James, even as they entered the building that had housed Mr. Gold's pawn shop. Though no one had seen Rumpelstiltskin anywhere since the curse had been broken and magic had returned, Emma figured it would be easier to check the pawn shop, before attempting his house.

Emma entered the shop first and made a beeline for the front counter. She could hear rustling in the back, and made her way around the counter and toward the back of the shop. "Mr.-errr-Rumpelstiltskin?" She called out, her eyes rolling at how stupid she sounded.

"Yes?" Called a voice that sounded more female than male. Definitely not, Rumpelstiltskin.

"I need to speak to-" Emma's voice dropped off as an unfamiliar face rounded the corner, and smiled up at her. "Who are you?"

The young woman, her auburn hair flowed to her shoulders in bouncing curls. Her smile was soft and Emma couldn't wrap her mind around why a woman as pure as this woman seemed to be would be doing working for Rumpelstiltskin—or even Mr. Gold. In fact, Emma had never seen anyone other than Mr. Gold in his shop, since before the curse was broken.

"I'm Belle, and you must be Emma Swan." Emma's eyebrow raised suspiciously as Belle reached out a hand to shake Emma's.

"Uh—how-" Emma couldn't wrap her thoughts into words. Like how in the hell someone she didn't know, knew who she was—or was acting like she had been expecting you.

"Rumpelstiltskin informed me that you would be stopping by. He's running late, but you're welcome to wait. He would very much like to talk to you." Belle spoke softly.

Emma eyed her carefully. "And how do you know—him?" Emma asked, knowing she'd never be able to call him Rumpelstiltskin in the ease that Belle apparently could.

"We're sort of-" Emma's eyebrow cocked disbelieving. She had heard that tone before—it sounded too close to how Mary Margaret had sounded when she was in love with a seemingly married David Nolan. Emma fought the urge to screw her eyes closed at the head-spinning amount of information roaming around inside her head.

"Wait a minute. You're dating—him?"

Belle smiled softly, but her stance was slightly defensive. "You say that like it's a bad thing." Her lips puckered slightly.

"You have met him—correct? He hasn't like—drugged you—or used magic on you—or whatever it is that he does...has he?" Belle shook her head. "So—this is your choice?"

Belle smiled softly. "Of course! I love him. It wasn't an easy love, but it's a true one."

God, how badly did Emma want to slap the next person that uttered the words _true love_ in the same sentence. Not only was it the corniest thing that Emma had _**ever**_ heard, but apparently her _true love_ had died, because Regina was the wicked witch of Storybrooke.

"I see-"

"Miss Swan! So lovely to see you." Emma turned toward the new voice. The one that sounded much more like Mr. Gold. She expected him to look like his storybook counterpart, that was an image that could give a child nightmares. Yet, he looked exactly like the same guy he had before magic returned.

"Yeah, let's just cut through the small talk bullshit, and get down to business."

He smiled as he leaned heavily on his cane. "Anything for the savior, my dear."

Emma wanted to smack him. Never mind all the love crazed people in this fairytale afflicted town, Emma just really wanted to smack Mr. Gold. Better yet, punch him—which him fall to the ground. Yet, he was the only one with the ability to help her. Now that Garrett had gone and played dirty, recruiting Regina in his war against Emma, who was raging her own war against her entire family. Better yet, Emma wanted to just smack herself. That's what she really wanted.

"My son's father has come to town. He's a bastard, and wants revenge—you understand revenge, correct? Anyway, he's got a partner-"

"Regina Mills—otherwise known as The Queen."

The sound of a hand smacking wood could be heard behind Rumpelstiltskin. Emma peered around, and almost laughed at the anger written on her father's face. She had almost forgotten her father was even there. He had been so quiet.

"Do not refer to her as that. That—woman." James' lip curled in fury.

"Yes, Prince James." Rumpelstiltskin practically bowed at her father, which nearly caused her to laugh out loud.

"Can you help me or not?" Emma finally said.

He turned back toward Emma, a smile still on his face. "Of course, Emma. I've been doing that this whole time, however, I have turned over a new leaf."

Emma eyed him carefully. "Sure you have."

He shook his head. "I nearly lost the love of my life before, because I couldn't give up the power of magic. I will not allow myself to become that person again. It nearly took everything from me. So I will, of course, help you with your problem."

"What's the cost." James' voice boomed behind him.

"I will do it for free." Rumpelstiltskin said solemnly.

"You have a reason for everything you do. So forgive me if I don't believe you." Emma said, her voice harsh.

"I lost my son long ago. I know the pain of losing a child, dear Emma. I will help you—I will make sure that you don't lose your beloved Henry."

Emma sighed. "Alright. So—what's next?"

He smiled grimly. "Let me worry about that, dear."

Emma nodded. "Fine." She walked around him, and felt her father grab a hold of her good elbow and start pulling her toward the door.

"We'll be in touch, Emma." Was the last thing she heard before the door shut behind her.

"Do you trust him?" Emma asked, looking up at her father.

"We don't really have much of a choice." He looked down at her grimly.

* * *

_**A/N: So-I was extremely afraid to actually write Rumpelstiltskin, firstly, because he is NOT an easy character to write. The dude is freaky-is all I'm saying. I love him-mainly because he cracks me up so much, but he's kinda weird-laughing at things that aren't meant to be funny (which totally makes them hysterical!) so I tried to write him in a way to where he's-perhaps-trying to stay good-because he's afraid he'll lose belle? I dunno-I guess I could see him doing that? Anyways, if it's horribly OOC then I apologize, and you'll have to bear with me as he is going to have a fairly good part in the remainder of this story. **_


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: Okay, so this chapter is kind of short-and a little awkward. I had a little trouble writing it. Not a lot-but a little. Twists in stories always give me a little trouble-so please ignore any awkwardness and enjoy! **_

* * *

Emma sat at the kitchen table, a coffee mug in her hands as she brought it to her lips. She was mulling over her conversation with both Rumpelstiltskin and Garrett. She was fairly aware that Garrett was willing to kill her to enact his revenge, she also knew that Garrett had no desire to take custody of Henry. He had all but told her that when she had him sign the papers. The face he had made, when she even reminded him that he had a son had been priceless by itself. So Emma couldn't figure out why he was claiming that he wanted custody of Henry, when Garrett hated children.

"Hey, mom." Henry called from the couch.

Almost as if on autopilot, Emma stood up from her chair, placed her cup on the table and walked over to the couch. Her limp was most definitely getting better, and her ankle barely hurt anymore. That was at least something in the positive column. Her arm, however, was another story.

"Yeah, Henry?" She asked, as she lowered herself down beside him.

"I just got to thinking about something. You broke the curse, right?" He paused, waiting for Emma to nod her head. "Yet, no one except for you can leave Storybrooke, still-" He let his sentence linger off, as Emma nodded her head. She opened her mouth to speak, before Henry interrupted her. "What I don't understand is if that part of the curse is still unbroken—then how did my dad come to town?"

Emma stared at Henry for a moment. The utter fact that one small part of the curse was still intact was all but forgotten, as she realized that Henry was right. If, Henry's rules of the curse were correct, and she had no reason to believe that they weren't, then strangers weren't allowed in Storybrooke. So if the citizens of storybrooke still couldn't leave, then that should mean that strangers still couldn't come to storybrooke. Her eyebrow cocked for a moment, as her lips puckered.

"I have—no idea." Emma mumbled. Her brain tried to find a reason, anything really that would help her make sense of this extremely screwed up world that she currently found herself living in.

"Mom, the only way he could come to town-"

Emma knew where he was headed, but she didn't want to go there. "It's not possible."

"Really?" Henry challenged her.

Emma sighed. Of course it was possible, the sheer fact that fairytale characters were currently roaming around Storybrooke told her it was possible. "Well—I suppose." Emma finally broke down. "But how?"

Emma had only heard of her and August coming to this world, through that damned wardrobe. So how in the world could someone else have come to this world, without it?

"Mom—this could be bad."

Emma nodded. "Very bad."

* * *

James guided Snow down the sidewalk. Though they both really wanted to be back at the apartment with their daughter and grandson, they also needed some alone time. They hadn't had any alone time since the curse had been broken, except for when they went to bed at night. Emma had agreed that they needed alone time before things with Garrett and Regina truly blew up.

So now they were walking down the main street in Storybrooke, arms looped together. Smiles planted firmly on their faces. As they walked passed people, they'd wave softly, the smiles never leaving their faces.

"We should head back soon." Snow said suddenly, as she crossed her exposed arm against her body.

"I know you miss them—but we need this, Snow. Here soon, it won't be safe for any of us to be alone. So, we need to do this now. I wanted just a little time alone with my wife. We'll head back soon, promise." James' blue eyes glinted in the fading sunlight.

Snow sighed contently. "Okay."

"Snow—James." The voice was familiar, but neither of them had seen her since the curse had broken. Turning their attention toward their new guest, they smiled.

"Hello, Kathryn." James spoke softly.

"How are things?" Her eyebrow quirked.

"Different and difficult." Snow said.

"That's understandable. So—Regina's still walking around like she owns the town—like she still owns us all."

This piqued both of their interests. "Since?" James asked.

"Yesterday. This dashingly, charming young man walked into Granny's and since then—well—Regina's had a certain pep in her step."

"Oh. That." Snow said, her eyebrow wrinkling slightly. A chill ran the length of her spine. "We're taking care of that."

"Oh—so you know—him?"

Snow shook her head. "Not directly. Emma does."

Kathryn just stared at Snow for a moment, before shrugging. "Either way. Neither of them look particularly fun to deal with. If you need help, know that you have an entire town at your disposal. We all feel like we owe Emma our lives. Which—I mean—we do."

James smiled softly. "We'll relay the message. Not sure how it will be received though-"

Kathryn smiled. "Yeah, I never really got the '_spotlight_' vibe from Emma before."

James and Snow laughed lightly. "Yeah, definitely not our Emma."

With that, they hugged each other tightly, before saying their goodbyes. "It was nice to see you two under better circumstances." Kathryn spoke softly, as she pulled back from her hug with Snow.

"Yeah, it'll be better circumstances when we rid this town of Regina and her new friend." James said, trying to hide his balled up fist and the anger glinting in his eyes.

Kathryn nodded. "Hope to see you two again!" With that she passed by them and continued walking down the sidewalk.

* * *

Emma watched as Henry came trotting back down the stairs, his storybook clutched tightly in his hands. They had both decided that if his father was indeed a fairytale character, that the easiest way to locate him, would be to reexamine the large book. Emma had read nearly every story in the book, mainly just wanting to grasp who everyone really was, and what they're lives were like back in fairytale land. Some of the stories she had ignored out of sheer impatience to get to all the different parts of her parents story.

Henry started to flip through the book like a madman. Calling out that it couldn't be this person or that for whatever reason. Emma was incline to take him at his word, since not believing him in the past had ended so badly. The kid hadn't been wrong yet, so she had absolutely no reason to not believe him now.

"Oh no." Henry muttered softly. This caught Emma's attention, as she peered down at the book. The young boy in the illustration did not ring even the slightest bell, but then again she didn't know many of the kids that went to Henry's school.

"Whose story is that?" Emma asked, her eyebrow furrowed as she continued to try to figure it out.

Henry seemed to not hear her, as he started to shake his head. "No, no no! This—is not good." He said, before turning toward his mother. "Do you know who that is?"

Emma shook her head. "Kinda what I already asked, kid."

Henry just shook his head again. "How did I miss this!?" His head dropped into his hands. "I've read this book cover to cover so many times, mom. How did I miss this?" Tears streaked his cheeks.

"Henry—who is that?" Henry just gazed at his mother. He really did not want to speak the words, it would make it too true.

* * *

Rumpelstiltskin walked down the street with Belle at his side. He watched as the people he passed, cringed. Though he didn't retain his monstrous looks from his time spent committing evil crimes in fairytale land, everyone knew who he was, and knew what he was capable of.

He could feel magic running through his body, and knew how easy it would be for him to revert back into the man he had been. Yet, he fought against the feeling that was slowly trying to overtake his body. Belle helped keep him grounded, and the fact that he was still so uncertain exactly how magic worked in this world. He realized that it did indeed work differently here than it had in fairytale land.

He stopped suddenly, yanking Belle to a halt as well.

"Rumpel-" He held up a hand to stop her.

"I think that—if I truly want to turn over a new leaf. To really be a better person—I think that I need to stick with Mr. Gold. At least it doesn't sound quite so—evil."

Belle nodded. "Whatever you're comfortable with."

Rumpelstiltskin smiled. "I am far more comfortable with Mr. Gold."

Belle smiled. "Then Mr. Gold it shall be." She took his hand again, as they started walking again.

Rumpelstiltskin had gotten into contact with Regina, since he had no idea who this mystery guy was—or how to contact him. He had convinced her to meet him at Granny's—though the both of them weren't technically welcome there, it would be neutral territory for the both of them. So, he entered the diner with Belle's hand clasped tightly in his own. He ignored the glares he received as he located Regina and her guest at the back of the diner.

Walking swiftly, his eyes were glued to the mystery man, more so than Regina. Even if she was the more dangerous of the two. A gleeful smile crossed the mystery man's lips, and Rumpelstiltskin couldn't help but feel like he had seen that smile before. Sliding into the seat opposite of Regina and the mystery man, Rumpelstiltskin found he couldn't peel his eyes from the other man. Suddenly, the smile dropped from his face and turned into a scowl.

"You don't know who I am, do you?" The voice. It sent a thrill through Rumpelstiltskin. It was starting to click in place.

"Bay?" Rumpelstiltskin whispered, unwilling to fully believe it.

"It is me, papa." Rumpelstiltskin felt a smile split his face.

"Balefire! I have missed you so much." Tears spilled down his face, as he reached out a hand to his son.

"I have missed you too, papa." Balefire reached out to his father. Sighing, tears ran down his cheeks. "Papa, please help me. I have to get my son back! I just—I have too."

Rumpelstiltskin nodded. "Of course, my dear Bay. Of course I will help you."

Belle's head snapped toward Rumpelstiltskin. "What about Emma?"

"Family first, dear Belle. Family first." Rumpelstiltskin smiled broadly, as he clutched his son's hand in his own.

* * *

_**A/N: Did ya see that coming? I did-It was the plan from the start. :-) Basically comes from everything I've read of all the fans wanting him to come back this season and to be Henry's father. So I figured why not? It makes for an interesting take. Oh, and don't think this is the only twist in this story. There is another coming-and soon too. Until next time! **_


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: Still not overly long, but a lot of important stuff happens. I can feel this starting to draw near a close-I hope you all are still enjoying this! **_

* * *

James and Snow laughed lightly as they pushed the front door open. The muffled sounds of crying could be heard from the couch, and Snow's heart dropped instantly. Had something happened? Had Garrett returned? Leaving James' grasp, Snow walked toward the couch, and instantly felt tears press against her eyes. Emma sat, tears cascading freely down her cheeks, as Henry was curled into her side, sobs were wracking his small body. Occasionally a hiccup would interrupt his sobs.

Emma looked up at her mom with tear filled eyes. Snow mouthed, '_what happened.'_ Emma sighed. She wanted to talk to her parents, but she didn't want to upset Henry worse than he already was. She rubbed her hand up and down his arm, trying to get his sobs to calm, but it wasn't working.

Snow saw the fight that Emma was raging with herself. She looked up to see James standing behind the couch, an almost helpless expression on his face. Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she cleared her throat which caused James' head to snap up and look at her.

"Why don't you take Henry into our bedroom, and try to calm him down." She left out the obvious part of her sentence that said she needed to talk to Emma alone.

James ran a shaky hand through his hair for a moment, before nodding his head. "Yeah." He said simply. He knew better than to fight Snow when she had an idea in her head, and right now that idea was talking to Emma alone. Reaching over the couch, James pulled Henry into his arms. Henry started to scream for Emma at first, before he realized that it was just his grandpa. At which point he wrapped his arms tightly around James' neck and let him carry away from the safety of his mother.

Emma swallowed around the lump in her throat, as she watched her father take her son away. Tears were still falling from his eyes at an alarmingly fast rate, and Emma needed to be there. She needed to comfort him, Henry was her son after all.

"Mom." There was that damn lump again. Her voice broke. She couldn't afford to break down. No matter how hopeless everything appeared at the moment. "I need to be with him."

Snow put a hand on Emma's shoulder, which caused her to turn slightly and look at her mother. "James can handle it for now. Henry trusts him. He'll be okay for a moment. Right now, we really need to know what's going on."

Emma nodded, her mouth opened to start the story. To start telling her mother the one truth that they had figured out, the one thing that would break down any progress they had made with getting Garrett to leave. However, when she opened her mouth the only sound that came out was a broken sob. Emma tried to fight it. The tears had been okay. She still had control over her body. She could still speak. However, sobbing was out of the question. Yet, her body rebelled against her. The sobs continued until Snow pulled Emma into her arms.

Sobbing so hard that it caused her arm to ache furiously, Emma felt her ribs burning from lack of oxygen. She took a deep, ragged breath, and felt her already burning lungs burn worse as hiccups ravished her body. She was just glad that it was only her mother that was seeing her like this. Her body jumped from a hiccup, before she took a deep breath. The sobbing slowed slightly, and the hiccups had gotten slightly less frequent. Sitting up, cradling her aching arm in her lap, Emma played with a frayed thread on her shirt. Unable to look at her mother, she opened her mouth.

"Mr. Gold—he won't help us." Emma said simply. Her fingers still toying with the thread on her shirt.

"What do you mean? I thought he agreed to help us?" Snow asked.

Emma sighed. "Henry realized that if you guys-" Snow knew what she meant by that, and sighed. "still can't leave Storybrooke, then no one new can come into town."

Snow gasped for a moment, her mind working quicker than Emma's mouth. "You mean..."

"Garrett is really Mr. Gold's son—or..well Rumpelstiltskin's son, Balefire." Emma shook her head. Snow could see the embarrassment on Emma's face.

Placing a her hand under Emma's chin, Snow forced Emma to look at her. The disgust in Emma's eyes hurt Snow. She knew that Emma was only disgusted with one person. Herself. "Emma. This—is not your fault. You had no reason to believe-"

"I know. That makes it worse. Now—I may lose my son to someone that doesn't even want him. All he will do is hurt Henry—or worse.." Emma sighed. The thought hadn't entered her mind before but it was screaming at her now. If Regina was helping him—then he had to offer her something. Emma's stomach rolled uncomfortably. Without another word Emma bolted off the couch, but she knew she'd never make it to the bathroom. Running as fast as she could, Emma barely made it to the sink before her stomach expelled itself. Tears flushed against her eyes from the burning pain that flared in her ribs that were still recovering from her earlier sobbing.

"Oh, dear! Emma!" Snow called, as she followed Emma to the kitchen. She waited until Emma was finished, before handing her a towel. "Sweetheart, are you okay?"

Emma nodded. "I just had a really disgusting thought is all." Emma tried to joke, but it came out all wrong. She sighed, and eyed the door that was still closed. She did not want Henry to hear what she was about to say. "Regina isn't helping him without getting something in return, mom."

Snow's eyes widened. "Oh—no. You don't think-"

"He hates children. He doesn't want Henry, he just wants to hurt me. I'm sure that Regina will share our little story, and twist it to make herself the victim. He'll be getting back at me, and not have to keep his son all at the same time. As soon as Rumpelstiltskin—Mr. Gold—whatever in the hell you want to call him, as soon as he figures out that Garrett is really his son. He'll drop us like a bad habit. What am I going to do, mom?"

Snow sighed. She had only one answer. The only answer that was best for everyone, and the only answer that would break her heart. "You need to take Henry—and leave town."

Emma sighed. She had a similar thought. "But I just found you and dad." Emma felt tears in her eyes again.

"We'll still be here whenever we find a better solution to this problem, but until then, you need to get yourself and that boy to safety. You're father and I will always love you, Emma." Emma nodded. "You should talk to Henry."

Emma sighed. "Okay." She leaned against her mom for a moment. Letting the safety she felt from being held by her mother linger, before pulling away and walking toward the bedroom that James and Henry were currently occupying.

* * *

Emma sat down on the bed, Henry's body had stilled from the sobs from earlier. Emma ran her hand through his hair, and kissed his forehead. His eyes probed hers for a minute. He sighed. "We're leaving." It wasn't a question, and Emma wasn't even sure how he even knew that was what she was going to tell him.

"We have to, kid. It's not safe here for us right now."

Henry nodded. "I get it. It's better if we leave." He sounded so dejected, and Emma felt her heart crumble to tiny little pieces. All she wanted was to cheer her son up, to put a smile back on the kid's face.

"We're going to come back, Henry."

This caused a reaction. He sat up, throwing his legs over the side of the bed. He was standing, pacing back and forth in front of Emma. Suddenly, he stopped and turned back toward Emma. The hurt, anguish, and anger written into his small face made Emma's heart clench uncomfortably. "When? A few months from now, a year, ten years? I felt like I finally had a family! That I was finally where I belonged and now we have to leave?"

"Henry-" Emma sighed. She didn't want to say the words. She wouldn't be able to take him sobbing like that again. "There is a chance that Regina is only helping your father because he promised her that she could have custody of you-"

His face snapped up at that. "No." It was a hushed whisper. "No!" He howled loudly. "I won't do it! I won't go back with her. Please, mom." He pleaded, tears in his eyes. "Please don't let her take me back."

Emma closed her eyes for a moment, to keep the tears at bay. "That's why we have to leave, Henry. Regina cannot follow us, so if we leave then she can't take you back."

Henry shook his head, as he swiped his sleeve against his cheeks. "It won't work." His voice was soft and broken. He looked Emma in the eye. "If he wants revenge that badly, he'll follow us."

That thought hadn't entered Emma's mind. The only thing that had ran through her head was to get Henry as far away from Storybrooke as humanly possible. She knew that Henry was right. Garrett would follow them, and he'd kill Emma and take Henry anyway. She bit back a gasp of frustration. "You're right." It was a hushed whisper.

Standing up, Emma wrapped her arm around Henry as they left the bedroom. Snow stood up, tear tracks on her cheeks, and James appeared to have been crying as well. Of course they were, they were grieving the fact that they were losing the daughter that they had only just gotten back.

"We're not leaving." Emma said sternly.

Snow shook her head. "You have too!"

Emma shook her head. "He will follow us, and I won't have anyone to protect me out there. He'll kill me and take Henry anyway. At least if we're together—we'll have better odds."

Snow nodded. "You're right, sweetheart." She walked forward, briskly and enveloped Emma in a tight hug. "I love you, sweetheart."

Emma smiled into her shoulder. "I love you too, mom."

* * *

Garrett smiled brightly. His arm hanging loosely on the back of the couch. His father was puttering around, insuring that both him and Regina have everything that they need. Though, the beautiful red-head that he walked into the diner with stayed far back. Her eyes blank, and almost like she was unwilling to trust the two new occupants of the house.

Regina reclined on the couch next to Garrett. His arm loped around her shoulders, and he could sense her tense, obviously uncomfortable with the unwanted touching. His grin grew, when she didn't withdraw his arm, like he assumed she would.

"Papa, could you get me a glass of water?" He eyed his father with eyes that he knew had worked previously, and would definitely work now that his father was willing to do anything to appease him.

"Of course, Bay!" His father said, before walking off toward the kitchen.

The woman that his father called Belle, watched them closely for a moment, before a flicker of unease crossed her face and she turned to leave as well. Using the time wisely, Garrett sat up and looked at Regina. "Our deal still stands. My father will only help us, not hinder us-"

Regina sneered. "He's screwed me over before."

Garrett grinned brightly. "Ah! But he will not screw me over, Regina. Our deal still stands. We'll kill Emma, and I'll gain custody of Henry—and return him to you. We all win."

Regina smiled back. "Perfection."

A throat clearing brought their attention to the fact that they were not the only occupants in the house. Garrett turned toward the direction his father had disappeared, and watched as his father frittered forward and shoved a glass full of water into his hand.

"For you, my dear Bay."

Garrett smiled. "Thank you, papa."


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N: Just a couple of things, real quick. I want to thank Phnxgrl for being awesome, and reading through this chapter for me! I truly appreciate it. Also, thank to everyone that PM'd me, who was willing to help me out. I truly do appreciate each and every one of you. Also, this one is a bit on the lengthy side, so if you like long chapters-then your welcome, if not-I apologize. **_  
**_Lastly, I don't even know where this came from. It just literally took on a life of it's own. I hope you guys like it.  
_**

* * *

Emma sipped at the cocoa in her hand. The cinnamon held an overwhelming aroma that was more than welcoming at the moment. It helped, only slightly, to calm her nerves. Her parents sat on either side of her, staring, it was more than unnerving. Another sip, Emma fought against making a face as the now lukewarm cocoa slipped down her throat.

"Okay, seriously. This is getting creepy." Emma finally spoke, as she glanced at both of her parents.

"Emma-"

Emma held up a hand to stop her mother. "I know. We need a plan. We need-" Emma sighed, her head leaning against her hand. "We need help." Emma forced the word out. Yet, aside from her parents friends from fairytale land, there was no one that would be willing to help them. Even still, none of them would be capable of helping them. That wouldn't stop them from trying.

"Well, Red and Granny are on their way over." Snow mumbled.

Emma shook her head. "I appreciate them, for doing this. I do. I just—I don't think they'll be much help. It's Rumpelstiltskin and Regina."

"And you're good! Good always wins. You've already proven that once."

Emma's head snapped up, and saw Henry bounding down the stairs only to stop right beside Emma's chair. She forced a smile, for Henry's sake. "I wish I believed that as much as you do, kid." Emma sighed.

Henry gripped her hand with his. "But it's true! When you were backed against a wall, and it was up to you alone to save me-"

Emma groaned. Flashbacks to a lifeless Henry, pale and unmoving, entered her mind. Tears pricked her eyes.

"You fought—and slayed a dragon to save me." Henry finally said.

James' head snapped up at this. "You did what?" He asked, wanting to make sure he heard right. He eyed his wife for a moment, and saw the same confusion on her face.

"Rumpelstiltskin—he told me that the only way to save Henry was true love-" Emma sighed, for a moment. "He handed me a sword-" Realization crossed Emma's face, and a smile crept onto her lips. "Your sword." She pointed at her father. "Regina took me to the library—there was an elevator that took me underground-"

"Where the dragon's lair was, correct?" James finished for her. Emma nodded. "You defeated the dragon-" he paused, a proud smile on his face. "with my sword—then what?"

Emma sighed. "It turned to dust, and underneath that dust was a golden egg shaped thing. Rumpelstiltskin said that he had bottled true love long ago, from strands of hair—from you two."

James nodded his head. "I hid that golden egg for him."

Emma's head cocked, as Snow gasped. "You helped him?"

James sighed. "It was the only way he'd help me find you."

Emma suddenly felt uncomfortable as the conversation took an unusual turn. The look in both her parents eyes made her feel like she was encroaching on a intimate matter. Quickly, they recovered, and James smiled softly.

"You're quite brave, my darling daughter. I'm proud of you." James said softly. His eyes holding every ounce of love that he felt for Emma.

Emma blushed softly, as a knock sounded on the door. "Saved by company." Emma mumbled. "I'll get it." She spoke louder, as she stood up. Walking quickly to the door, Emma opened it and nearly fell over her feet when she jumped backwards. Her eyes wide, as she stared at the person on the other side of the door. "It can't be. No!" Emma shook her head. Obviously she was seeing things, because this couldn't be right. How could it be right. It felt like it should be right—but people don't come back from the dead. Nothing fixes dead, even Rumpelstiltskin said that. So how was this possible?

"Emma." She had always loved the way her name sounded coming from his lips. The accent alone making her name sound so foreign, yet so right.

"Mom." Emma called out, as she continued to back up.

Snow came bustling from the kitchen and stopped dead in her tracks. "No. It can't be so." Snow's hand clamped down over her mouth. "How?" She finally forced out.

He took one step forward, afraid that both of the shocked women would lash out at him. "I'm not entirely sure." He said softly, as his eyes gazed at the woman that he loved. "I—uh-I woke up in the woods." He said, his voice unsure of what to make of the words that he was speaking.

James finally came into view, wondering what had the girls so riled up. "Huntsman?" He asked. Unsure that his eyes were in fact seeing a dead man in front of him.

He nodded his head. "I'm not entirely sure—what happened." He sighed, as he ran a hand through his curly, brown hair. "Emma. Tell me what happened, please."

Emma took a step forward. She still couldn't believe it. The man she loved, the man that she had watched die, was standing right in front of her. With her hand outstretched, she placed her hand against his chest. Graham fought against the smile that wanted to creep onto his face. The scene, ever familiar in his mind. Her words came back to him in a jolt. _'You really think you don't have a heart?' He looked at her strangely. Like she was the crazy one for not believing him. 'It's the only thing that makes any sense! It's the only thing that explains why I don't feel anything.' 'Listen to me, Graham. You have a heart.' He shook his head back and forth, as he chewed on his bottom lip. How dare her not believe him! He needed to find his heart, and she was only slowing him down by questioning him. 'I can prove it.' She said the words so surely, that he even almost believed her. She reached her hand out tentatively, as she pressed her fingertips passed his vest and against his shirt clad chest. 'See, it's beating. It's real.' He shook his head vehemently back and forth. His heart was missing, that's what Henry had told him. He had lost his heart to the evil queen to spare Snow White. Why didn't Emma believe him? She got that determined look on her face, the one that he found to be undeniably sexy, and reached out for his hand. She clasped it around the wrist, and pulled it up. Laying his hand against his chest, she pressed her hand against his. 'Feel that. That is you're heart.' He shook his head again, she was wrong. It wasn't there, it wasn't beating. He couldn't feel anything. _Graham shook his head to bring himself back to the present. To the feel of Emma's hand on his chest. He smiled as she withdrew it.

"You're really here." Graham merely nodded. "But—you're heart."

He sighed. "That's what I need you to explain."

"Graham, you're heart is beating-" Emma looked like she was going to pass out from the information rolling around inside of her head. "How does that even work?" It wasn't that she wasn't thankful that Graham was alive—standing before her. It was more the fact that she couldn't understand how he was alive and standing before her.

"Emma, listen to me. When you held my hand against my chest, and told me that my heart was beating-" He sighed, as he took a step closer to her. "It wasn't. I don't understand how you felt something that wasn't there, but it wasn't there. You—believed it so much though, and you were willing to get caught in Regina's father's crypt—or whatever, to help me find something you believed I already had. So—I started to believe you. I thought, maybe I just wanted to believe I didn't have a heart to explain why I would-" He groaned. "Then you kissed me and I remembered, everything. I wanted so badly to explain it to you, that Henry was right—but then all I remember after that is a crushing pain in my chest. I fell to the floor, and that's it. That's all I remember, until I woke up."

Emma merely nodded, as Snow took a step forward. Her hand reached out and touched Grahams arm. "When did you wake up?"

Graham looked from Emma to Snow. "I'm not entirely sure. I woke up in the woods, my wolf brother was with me. It felt like I was out there for days. I—uh-basically just roamed around, trying to figure out what happened. Trying to piece it all together, but nothing ever sounded right. I knew I needed to see you—to talk to you." He said, as his hand reached out to cup Emma's cheek. "I fought the urge to come here sooner. I didn't want to hurt you. When I realized that everyone remembered—I knew that you'd have enough to deal with, but the need to see you grew too large." Graham bowed his head. "I just, I had to see you—to talk to you."

Emma nodded, her mouth opened to speak. "I know, what happened." The voice was familiar, as a chill ran up and down everyone's spine. Rumpelstiltskin poked his head in the door, and smiled brightly. "So great to see you up and around, huntsman."

Graham eyed him wearily. "You know what happened to me?"

Rumpelstiltskin barked a laugh. "But of course. There isn't a lot that goes on in this town that I don't know about." He smiled brightly. "It's simple really. Only one person comes to mind with the ability to do this. Can anybody take a guess?" He asked.

Emma glared at Rumpelstiltskin, as she spat the name from her mouth. "Regina."

"I always knew you were a smart one!" Rumpelstiltskin said, as he reached forward to grabbed Emma's arm.

Graham took one step in front of her, his arms crossed over his chest. "I don't think so." He said promptly. He could feel Emma's body practically mold against his, as she tried to hide behind him. Obviously something was going on between Emma, her family, and Rumpelstiltskin. Not that it was particularly surprising.

* * *

Emma shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Graham sat beside her, his arm crossed over his chest, as he eyed Rumpelstiltskin wearily. Her parents stood behind her, James' hands clasped her shoulders to make sure she knew he was still there. They had sent to Henry to his room. He didn't need to know the gritty details of what had happened to Graham. Yet, none of it made sense.

"You mean to tell me—to tell us—that Regina faked Grahams death? That she kept him drugged in such a way that he wouldn't remember any of it?"

Rumpelstiltskin merely nodded his head. "Does this really surprise you, Miss Swan? After the lengths she went to, to frame your dear mother?" His eyebrow cocked.

Emma sighed. The annoying, little man had a point. Regina had faked Kathryn's death as well. She had someone fake the reports on the heart. Then something hit her, and a gleeful smile crossed her lips. "Wait—didn't you have something to do with Kathryn Nolan's disappearance?" Her eyebrow cocked.

"That was never proved, Miss Swan." He simply smiled, challenging her.

"Oh, I'm fairly certain that it doesn't _need_ to be proved. Everyone in this room knows who you are, and what you're capable of. So—Rumpelstiltskin-did you have something to do with Kathryn Nolan's disappearance and the framing of my mother?"

He sighed, and stared at her. "What are you going to do, put me in jail?" He challenged.

"Perhaps—but that can be discussed later. Just answer the damn question."

"Yes."

She smiled again. "So—then did you have something to do with Grahams supposed death?" Her eyebrow cocked.

"No."

"I don't believe you."

Rumpelstiltskin practically snarled at her. "Why would I lie!? I told you about Kathryn's disappearance."

Emma sighed. "Fine. It was just Regina." Emma didn't believe a word of it, but she'd deal with that later, along with the fact that her supposed true love was very much alive, and sitting right next to her. "Now, let's deal with the fact that you faked a woman's death, and kidnapped her-"

"I never said I kidnapped her, dearie. I said I helped."

Emma eyed him for a moment. "Kidnapping is not Regina's thing. That much is obvious."

Rumpelstiltskin groaned. "What do you want, Miss Swan?"

She smiled brightly. "You're help. Get rid of that deadbeat piece a crap you call a son, and make sure he lives me and Henry the hell alone, and we'll forget that you had anything to do with Kathryn's disappearance."

"No can do, dearie."

Emma stood up, her ankle feeling a little weak from her near trip earlier. Grabbing the handcuffs from the drawer she had kept them in since her leave from the sheriff's station. "Well, then, Rumpelstiltskin, you are under arrest for kidnapping."

Rumpelstiltskin's hand connected with the table hard. "Fine. I will see what I can do. I won't force him to leave, but I won't help him get custody of the child. That is all I can promise."

Emma sighed. "I guess that'll do. For now. Just remember, I know where you live."

Rumpelstiltskin stood up. "I'd watch yourself, dearie. My son and Regina are not the only ones that wish you harm. I'd hate for you to have another repeat. Breaking the other arm would be so—inconvenient." He smiled brightly at her, before making his way toward the door. "It is good to see you alive and well, Graham. It is good, indeed."

* * *

Two hours had passed since Graham had knocked on their front door, and no one could still believe it. They had all, in their own way, grieved his death and moved on. All of them except for Emma. So, as Snow and James sat at the kitchen table, as Graham slowly sipped on a cup of coffee, Henry sat in his shared bedroom with Emma.

She hadn't spoken a word in the hour that she had been upstairs with him, and Henry hadn't forced her to talk either. He all to vividly remembered her recent emotional breakdown over Graham, and how hard that had been on all of them, himself included. So he sat, with his back against the wall, and watched a single trail of tears slipped down his mother's cheeks.

"I should be happy." She finally spoke. It felt like someone was holding her heart in a vice grip and refused to let go. "I am happy. I just-" She sighed, as her head fell forward.

"You're scared." Henry said plainly, pointing out the obvious words she couldn't bring herself to say.

Emma merely nodded her head, before scooting backward to sit next to her son. Tilting her head slightly, she watched him out of the corner of her eye. "I shouldn't be afraid of someone I love." Those words hurt worse than the knowledge that someone had kept him away from her this entire time.

"It's not that you're afraid _of_ him, mom. You're afraid that he'll hurt you again."

Emma choked back a sob. "He didn't do it on purpose."

Henry smiled, before sitting up so he could look Emma in the eye. "I know that, you know that, and I'm sure he does too. It's just-"

Emma sighed. She knew how that sentence ended, and she hated it. "I do better alone, where no one can hurt me." Henry nodded. Emma used to love the fact that she was self reliant. That she didn't need anyone and no one needed her. Then Henry showed up, and slowly every single wall that she had spent years perfecting crumbled to bits, with the help of three people. Henry, Mary, and Graham. All three of them had hurt her, even if it was inadvertently, and she had forgiven two of them. So why was she fighting so hard against the feeling of wrapping her arms around that big, strong, overly gorgeous man and hugging him tightly? At the very least, why is fighting herself over whether or not to give the poor man back his jacket. The one that's been hanging in her closet since Mr. Gold—Rumpelstiltskin-whoever in the hell he was, hung it up at the sheriff's station?

"I don't think he's expecting your full forgiveness. He just wants a chance."

Emma nodded. It was only fair. The man had practically sacrificed his life to save hers, even if he didn't know it at the time. She did owe him at least one last chance to be in her life, but maybe that's what was bothering her more than anything. Could she trust herself to just be friends for now. To just be around him, and not be _with_ him. "I'll give it a shot."

Henry smiled. "It's all we can ask." He sighed, as the smile slowly fell from his lips. "You do need to talk to him, though."

Emma groaned. "You're too smart for you're own good, kid." Even though she knew it was the truth. "Baby steps, right?" Her eyebrow raised. Henry nodded, slowly as Emma sighed. "Send him up."

* * *

Graham edged his way toward the entryway of Emma's bedroom. She was sitting on her bed, her head down as she twirled a strand of her hair. A smile played on the edge of his lips as he lifted his hand and knocked on the door. "You called?" He drawled, his accent thick as her head snapped up.

She couldn't help but smile at the grin on his face. "Yes. Come in."

He walked forward but stopped short of the bed, and leaned his back against the wall. He could feel the tension from the door, and knew she'd be uncomfortable with him sitting beside her. "What can I do for you?"

She sighed, and could tell he was trying to keep her at ease. Yet, him standing against was making her more nervous. "Could you sit down, please? You're making me nervous."

His eyebrow arched, but he complied. "Of course." He moved to sit on the floor, and heard Emma groan.

"On the bed, you dork!" She blushed, and covered her mouth with her hand. How had they fallen back into their flirting habits so easily? In that one instance it felt like she hadn't thought he was dead for months, and had cried over the fact that she'd never get the chance to kiss him again. In that instance she could almost see a future with him, that involved random insults that make him grin in a quirky way.

"Of course—your highness." Emma groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Unfortunately that is more accurate than I would really like it to be." Emma said simply. She rearranged herself, so that her back was against the wall and she could face Graham. "We need to talk."

Graham nodded. "That's fair."

"I know it seems like I've been cold-"

Graham held up a hand. "No. I haven't been fair, Emma. I just come knocking on your door, and to be fair, I didn't know what had happened after I collapsed. As far as I knew, I had been in a coma like—well your father-" Graham made a face at that. "I mean, I woke up in the woods, I didn't know what was up, I just knew that whatever had happened, that I needed to see you."

Emma nodded. She stared at him for a long moment, and knew that he was being honest. "Graham, I held you. I watched you die-" A lump formed in her throat, and she watched through tear blurred eyes as he fought himself on whether he should attempt to comfort her. "It broke my heart to watch you take—what I thought was your last breath. I thought a part of myself died right there with you, because I had been so horrible to you, and you had been so amazing to me." Tears slipped down her eyes, and she couldn't stop the words from falling from her lips. "I couldn't bring myself to grieve your death, because I thought as long as I didn't, that it wasn't real. That you'd eventually walk back into the sheriff station, like nothing had happened, and everything would be fine again. I lied to myself for so long, that I started to believe myself. Then everything went to hell, and I was mad at you! I was so angry, because I needed someone that was still the same to be there for me, because I had lost so many things in one instant. I did everything I could to save Henry, and in doing so I broke the curse. Suddenly I had parents, but I lost my best friend. I didn't know what to do with that! I was barely comfortable with having a best friend and a son, let alone parents. I felt like my world was spinning out of control, and the only way to stop it was if I could talk to you, but you were dead. So I got angry with you, because it was easier than dealing with everything. Then-" Emma sighed.

Graham bit his lip, as tears slipped down his cheeks. Forgetting the fact that he was supposed to wait for her to okay any physical contact, Graham reached out his hand and caressed her cheek. His heart raced a little when she didn't pull away from him.

"After I got hurt, I didn't have any other choice but to bond with my family." She smiled through her tears. "That's when it really hit me, and when it hit me—it hit hard. I broke down in front of Henry, and I'm fairly certain that I scared the poor kid." She sighed. "My mom was there for me-" She smiled softly. "I forgot. Two things. One-" She sighed, and clenched her good hand into a fist before pushing herself forward and kissing his cheek. "Thank you. You saved my mother's life."

Graham smiled, as he touched his cheek with two fingers. The skin beneath his fingers tingled slightly. "And the second thing?" He asked.

Emma stood up, and walked softly toward her closet. "Mr.-Rumpelstiltskin-whatever. He forced this onto me, and I ended up putting it in my closet. I never wore it though." She dug in the back, and pulled the jacket out in her good hand, and handed it to him.

He smiled. "My jacket." He lifted the leather crested jacket to his face, and took in the scent. "If you didn't wear it—then why does it smell like you?" He asked suddenly.

"I said I didn't wear, I never said I didn't touch it."

He smiled. "I know that I have to earn back your trust. Even if it wasn't my choice to leave you—I left, and it hurt you." He turned toward her slightly. "You don't know how badly I feel about that. If I could have done anything to prevent the pain you went through—I would have done it. I want to start by helping you. I don't know what's going on, but I know that there is something going on with you and Rumpelstiltskin—and that it involves Henry."

Emma nodded. "It's a long story, and I am not happy to tell it again."

Graham smiled. "I won't judge. Pinky promise." He held out his pinky for her to link hers with.

"Well, it all started ten years ago..."

* * *

_**A/N: Alright, leave me a review..where you confused-are you confused-did anyone see Graham coming back? I surely hope not, cos even I didn't see that coming. He just demanded to be written, and wouldn't leave me alone! It was supposed to be either Rumpelstiltskin or Red & Granny on the other side of that door, but bam-Graham just popped up with all his hotness and that lovely accent and I couldn't say no...**_

_**Now that I am done rambling, I just wanna give a shout-out to my new found friend Banana Flavored Lemonade who is gonna be helping me with future OUAT fics. Everyone wave and say hello! :-) Until next time.  
**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N: This chapter was not easy to start out on. It took me a while to even open the file on my computer because I was at a complete loss of what to write next, as most of my plans for this story seemed to be crushed, due to Graham just showing up like he did. However, after a nice long chat with Banana Flavored Lemonade, I got a slightly detoured version of where this story was headed. So, here is the next chapter. Enjoy! **_

* * *

Emma watched, trying to mask the fear she felt, as Graham stormed out of the apartment. The door slammed with a reverberating thud. Emma swallowed against the lump that had formed in her throat. In some part of her brain, she heard her mother asking her what had happened. Could hear the fear in her mother's voice, but Emma couldn't process any of that. She couldn't form a single thought pass the fact that the man she loved, the man she thought had died, just stormed out of her house without so much of a backward glance. At least he had been kind enough to throw a mumbled a few words her way of going to find some of his belongings.

Suddenly the fear fell away and a surge of anger overtook Emma's body. Try as she might to control herself, Emma grunted in frustration as pounded both of her fists against the hard wood of the kitchen table. Repeatedly, over and over, like a mantra. It brought her the satisfaction she was seeking, and soon her rage fell away and the screaming pain in her still broken arm cried out for attention. The pain in her arm was so intense that Emma couldn't control her legs any longer and she fell to the hardwood floor beneath her.

Snow cried out, as Emma slumped to the floor and cradled her now mangled cast and purple colored arm to her chest. Tears cascaded down her cheeks, as the sobs overtook her body, and Emma started to shake uncontrollably. "James, get Henry out of here." Snow finally said, taking control of the situation. Henry had seen far too much as it was, and he was standing, stock still, as James scooped him up and carted him off to his shared bedroom with Snow.

An almost primal scream tore out of Emma's mouth, as she bowed her head forward. She couldn't hate herself, or her life more at that moment if she tried. Snow slowly lowered herself to the floor beside Emma, and put her arm around her daughter's shoulder. Emma's head snapped up and she glared at her mother. Snow bit back a gasp as she tried to understand why her daughter was so angry at her. "Emma..."

Taking a deep breath, and willing the continuing flood of tears to stop, Emma sighed. "I'm sorry." She finally muttered. "It's just—it's all _**really**_ hitting me and it's a little overwhelming."

Snow just stared at her for a moment, and tried to understand what Emma was trying to say. Shaking her head, she couldn't form a rational thought. Of course Emma would be overwhelmed by the return of Graham—the huntsman, they all were, but she hadn't said that. She had said, it all was hitting her hard. All of what? Finally giving up on her internal debate that was wielding no answers, Snow cocked her head to the side and said. "All of what is hitting you?"

Emma groaned. "Everything. I mean—sure I came to terms with the fact that you're my mother and James is my father. I get that, I understand that. It's not any less overwhelming, but it's fine. Whatever. It's just everything else. The fact that everyone in this town are fairy tale characters. Characters that I read about in books. They are real, and they're my friends or my parents friends—okay fine, whatever. Then—Graham." Her voice breaks over his name, and Snow finally understands what this is all about. Emma may say it's about things that she has known for nearly a month, but the truth of the matter is Emma is really just finding it hard to deal with the fact that she not only gave her heart to another man, but that he was actually still alive. "I mean—where has he been this entire time? Rumpelstiltskin—stupid little man—he wasn't the least bit helpful. '_Oh well it was Regina that kidnapped the presumed dead sheriff, dearie.'_ God, why does he always say that!" Emma groaned. "I think I broke it again." Emma motioned toward her mangled arm and winced at the pain throbbing through it.

Snow bit back a laugh. "You can't break something that hasn't fully healed, my darling daughter. You have simply increased your recovery time."

Emma sneered. "Wonderful. Because this cast is just fantastic. The stupid thing makes my arm all itchy." Emma's nose wrinkled. "Can't I just take it off and call it a day?"

Snow raised an eyebrow. "No you may not. You're arm will not set correctly and it will cause you problems. Now, we need to get you back to the hospital to have Dr. Whale take another look at it."

Emma groaned. "Stupid freaking arm."

* * *

Graham kicked at loose rock, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. A scowl on his face as he continued to fume over what Emma had told him. If he could have been certain that he wouldn't have yelled, screamed, or thrown a fit in front of her, he wouldn't have stormed off. Yet, he didn't think he possessed that much self control, so instead of taking his anger and frustration out on Emma, who did not deserve it, he decided to go look for the person who did deserve it.

That's why he was currently standing outside of Granny's diner, eyes scanning both directions, waiting for someone who doesn't look familiar or at the very least one evil witch in which he had a bone to pick with. He groaned, as he ran a hand through his tussled, curly brown hair. A gasp caught his attention, and Graham was ready to be face to face with another citizen of Storybrooke that Regina had forced into mourning, his apparent, fake death. However, when he turned he was face to face with the devil herself. Graham grunted, his hand bawling into a fist as he stared holes straight through Regina.

"You have some explaining to do." Graham's lips turn upward in an almost growl.

Regina mistook the look, as an almost smile, which caused her to smile back. "Come on, Graham. Let's chat. It's been so long." She reached out a hand to grab his forearm.

Graham yanked his arm away from her, before towering over her. His finger pointing directly in her face. "I said explain! Why does everyone think I'm dead?"

Regina grumbled slightly, as she slunk back away from Graham. "Because."

Graham's face turned into a snarl. His anger getting the better of him. "I said explain, Regina. I swear to God! I want to know what in the hell is going on."

Regina sneered him. "Why don't you sit—huntsman." She barked at him, waving him over to a free table outside of the diner.

"I don't want to sit! I want answers."

"God! You are infuriating." Regina sighed. "I did it, because I was angry. Because you left me for that—_**woman**_." Regina spat the world out like it left a nasty taste in her mouth. "I was pissed, and I decided if I couldn't have you, then no one else could either. Especially not that God-forsaken woman!"

Graham looked at Regina, confusion written on his features. "I—uh-don't understand." His head cocked sideways slightly.

"I squeezed your heart into dust, Graham. I literally squeezed the life out of you. What I don't understand—is how you're here now."

Graham stood up. "Wait a damn second. Are you saying that you really did kill me?"

Regina nodded, as her teeth assaulted her bottom lip.

"How is that possible? Rumpelstiltskin—said you kept me captive-"

"And you what, believed him?"

Graham glared at her. "Like I have reason to believe you! Like at what you've done!"

Regina sighed. "Well, I'm being honest right now, Graham. I killed you."

Graham started to pace slightly, his hand ruffling his already messy curls. "I don't get it. I don't understand." Finally he turned around and grabbed Regina's shoulders. "You're being honest?" He asked, his eyes wide and blinking rapidly.

Regina's mouth opened to speak. "What in the hell are you doing?" Graham's head turned just in time to see a fist crashing toward his face. He stumbled backward, his hand gripping at his throbbing nose and felt the sticky presence of blood. Growling, Graham leapt forward and caught the offending man in the jaw with his right hand and in the nose with his left. However, a kick to the knee-cap left Graham on the ground, and the onslaught of repeated shots to his midsection left him breathing heavy. Graham's eyelids were heavy, as unconsciousness was calling for him, and as soon as the boot connected with his head, Graham gave up his fight as his world grew dark.

* * *

Emma grunted and groaned as Snow and James flaunted all over her. James had secured Emma's battered arm in a make-shift sling, while Snow planted a couple of pain killers in her hand. Henry stood off to the side, his face held an unreadable mask, except for the few tears that rolled down his red cheeks.

"Okay, I think we're ready to go." James finally said, as he helped his daughter into a standing position.

"I am not invalid, dad! I can walk." Emma huffed finally. Holding her arm to her chest, she paused and stooped in front of Henry. "I am so sorry for scaring you."

Henry bit back a sob, as he nodded his head. "It's okay, mom. It's a lot to accept and you got angry."

Emma swallowed past a lump as she nodded. "Still, it's no reason to do what I did, and I am sorry."

Henry leaned forward, careful of his mother's arm, and hugged her lightly. "I know, mom." Was all he muttered.

"Let's go." James finally said, hating to break up the moment between his daughter and grandson, but knew that Emma would eventually try to talk them out of taking her to the hospital.

Emma sighed, as she sent a glare toward her father, before pulling herself back to her full height. She blinked away the tears that formed at the corner of her eyes from the pain of jostling her arm. Snow placed her jacket around her shoulders, shooting her an apologetic look for not being able to do more to keep her warm. Emma forced a small smile, just as her cell phone rang. Everyone in the room stopped and stared at it for a moment, before Henry shrugged and grabbed it.

Accepting the call, he pulled the device to his ear. "Hello?"

"Is this Emma Swan?"

Henry's nose wrinkled at the familiar voice on the other line. Pulling the phone from his ear, he held it out to Emma. "It's Dr. Whale."

Emma stared at Henry for a moment before pulling the phone to her ear. "Dr. Whale?"

"Ah, Miss Swan." Emma didn't like the tone of his voice, and her nose wrinkled up in displeasure. "I hate to inform you that we have Graham here in the emergency room." The phone dropped from her grasp as a gasp sounded from her lips.

She was suddenly hit with flashbacks of holding his lifeless body. The pale color of his skin and the purple tinge to his lips. Her body wracked with sobs as she tried to shake him back to life. Suddenly it hit her. That little imp was lying to her and Graham. There was no way that Graham had been alive. It wasn't physically possible. She had leaned over him, had put her ear to his chest. There was no heart beat behind her ear.

Now, he was in the hospital. Her hand shook as she turned on her heel, without so much of an explanation, and headed out the door. Her family, shocked into stillness, quickly brought themselves out of it, and followed her out the door. It slammed close behind Henry.

* * *

Emma stormed into the emergency room, her re-injured arm cradled close to her chest as her eyes sought out the man she was looking for. After a few minutes of looking around the crammed full emergency room, Emma located him and scowled. Storming forward, wishing she had two functional arms to place on her hips, Emma glared at him with storm filled eyes.

"What in the hell where you thinking!?" Emma screamed, as she dropped her good arm, which caused her injured arm to jerk. Emma hissed, before pulling her good arm back up to cradled her bad one.

"Emma, you need to see a doctor." Graham said, his eyes softening with the concern etched on his face.

"Later. Right now, you're going to explain to me, just what in the hell you were thinking!"

Graham sighed. "I was thinking that I wanted to take out my frustration on the person who truly deserved it." His face fell a little, and Emma could finally see all the bruising and scrapes along his jawline. "I didn't want you to think I was angry with you. I was angry with the situation, and I was pissed off that someone would even attempt to take Henry from you."

Emma sighed, her anger slowly starting to dissipate. "Why didn't you just talk to me? How can I trust you again, if you keep storming out of my life and ending up in the hospital?"

Graham's head snapped up, and he groaned as his vision swam into murky darkness for a moment. "Never think that I'll ever walk out of that door and not come back. If it's the last thing I do, I will always walk back through that door, Emma."

She sighed, as she sat on the edge of his bed. He wasn't forgiven just yet, but her pain killers were wearing off, and the throbbing pain was wearing her out. "What's the damage?" She asked tiredly, her eyes drooping close for a moment.

"Broken nose, a couple of bruised ribs. Some scrapes and cuts. A concussion. Nothing to really worry about."

Emma barked out a laugh. "Yeah, because the doctor always calls for '_nothing to worry about.'_" Emma said, using air quotes to emphasize her sarcasm.

"I told him to call you. I didn't want you to worry—Look, Emma..." Graham sighed, lifting a hand to his now dirty and unruly hair. "Regina didn't keep me captive. I didn't believe her at first, but it just doesn't make sense." He groaned. "None of it makes sense, and I've never been more confused in my entire life, but Emma—I am glad for whoever or whatever brought me back. I'm where I belong. I'm with you."

Emma sighed. She wanted so badly to tell him about her vivid flashback to the night he had died. When she had held him in her arms, and she could feel the life drain from his body. How she watched the color drain from his face, and he became a figment of her most haunting dreams. She wanted to tell him all of that, but she couldn't. Instead, she stood back up. "I'm glad you're back too, Graham." She turned her back on him, and turned toward her parents who were trying to pretend they hadn't just witnessed their entire conversation. "Let's go get a brand new cast." Emma said, feigning excitement. Finally she turned back to Graham, a small smile upturned her lips. "I'll be back." With that she was gone.

* * *

_**A/N: Not a whole lot going on in this one, but believe me, it's setting up the climax of the story, which is coming fairly soon. I'm just guessing, maybe five more chapters. Could be a little more, could be less-who knows! **_


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Bet you weren't expecting a new chapter so fast, were you? I wasn't expecting to write one, but this chapter would not leave me alone and refused to go away until I wrote it. It's a tiny bit shorter than I usually like to write, but it was just the _perfect_ place to end the chapter. Enjoy! We're drawing closer to the end. It's about to get a bit chaotic. **

* * *

Emma groaned as Dr. Whale pressed against the now swollen and bruised skin over her clearly broken arm. He made a face. "We're going to need to x-ray that arm again. Make sure that you didn't cause anymore damage to it." He motioned for a nurse who smiled at him. "Clara, will take you to x-ray. Once they've been read, I'll come back in here to see you." Emma nodded.

She stood up and watched as James and Snow clung to her sides carefully. "I am able to stand on my own two feet, I promise." Emma sighed. "Please, wait here, and watch Henry." She made a face. Snow and James nodded, as she followed Nurse Clara to the x-ray room.

Emma hadn't been conscious the first time, so she paid careful attention to Clara's movement as she walked down the hallway. She came to a sudden stop and pulled a large door open. "Go on inside, Miss Swan. The technician will take the x-ray's, and send you back to your room. Dr. Whale will be back with you shortly."

Emma gave the nurse a curt nod, before entering the large room. "Miss Swan? A tall, lean looking young man asked, walking forward. Emma hadn't remembered seeing him before, not that she knew everyone in Storybrooke." She nodded. "Can I see you're wrist band please?" He asked. Emma held up her wrist. He sighed, before looking her up and down. "Alright. Any questions before we start."

Emma eyed the technician for a moment. "Does it hurt?" She asked, her lips puckering. Not sure that she could take any extra pain. Even though Dr. Whale knew that her arm was broken, he refused to give her any medication to help with the pain until he knew if she had damaged her arm any worse. Which according to Dr. Whale, would likely call for surgery.

"Unfortunately, it will probably cause you a great deal of discomfort. I do apologize for that, but there is no way around it."

Emma nodded. "Okay, I'll try to keep the cursing to a minimal."

He smiled. "That is quite alright, Miss Swan. I am sure that I've heard it all and a whole lot worse. Believe me, things do not get worse than a drunk Leroy with a broken nose. That was quite an interesting night." Emma laughed, but he could feel the tension rolling off of her from where she was standing. "I just realized that I haven't even introduced myself. How rude of me." He smiled softly. "I'm Marko." Emma smiled at the unusual name, wondering if the young man was going by his fairytale name or his real world name.

"Nice to meet you." Emma said softly.

Marko nodded his head. "Let's get this going so we can get you patched up, and back home."

Emma nodded her head. "That sounds like a plan, Marko." She said, her nose wrinkling at the weirdness of the name.

He had her sit in a chair next to the x-ray machine, and lay her arm on the table. His nose wrinkled at the painful appendage. "I bet that hurts like a bitch." Marko stated. "Excuse my language." He shook his head.

"Oh, I assure you, you're about to hear much worse than that."

Marko smiled. "That maybe, Miss Swan, but my mother taught me manners. Using language like that in front of a lady is not something that a young man should do."

Emma sighed. Oh he was definitely using his fairytale name, because God knows, no real person talks like that. "It's quite alright, Marko. I assure you that no 'lady' is supposed to curse like a sailor, but I can promise you that if this hurts too badly-" She smiled as her sentence trailed off.

He simply smiled back at her, and then wrinkled his nose. "I'm sorry ahead of time." He said simply, before readjusting her arm.

Emma bit her lip as he told her to hold the position. After what felt like a lifetime of gut-wrenching pain, Emma was able to place her arm in a less painful position. Breathing deeply, and praying that her stomach would be able to hold back it's contents, that were currently tumbling around uncomfortably, she eyed him carefully.

Five more painful positions later, found Emma with tears rolling down her cheeks that were red from the amount and level of swearing that had come from her lips. She seriously hoped that she hadn't scarred Marko for life with her creative swears that left most red in the cheeks. He smiled sadly at her. "Alright, all done."

Emma nodded, and pulled her throbbing arm into her body, daring anyone to attempt to touch it. Walking slowly toward the curtained off room that she had accompanied only ten minutes earlier. She found her father pacing in front of the curtain, back and forth. His eyes met hers. The tears and fear etched in them caused her stomach to drop. "Dad?"

"They're gone." He whispered, as a pained gasp escaped his lips. "I went to get Henry some water, and when I got back they were gone. Snow's purse is still in the room and there was no note." His eyes met hers, and she knew that he didn't think they left by choice. A pained scream left her mouth as she realized who had a hand in this.

* * *

Henry cried as Snow held him close. "Shut him up!" The voice called from the front seat.

Snow had never heard the voice before, which gave her a slight clue as to who it was. "Balefire."

"Shut up!"

Snow's body stiffened as she felt the cold barrel of a gun press against the back of her head. Her body shook, both from fear for her and her grandson and from the sobs that was causing Henry's body to jerk. "I want my mom." Henry sobbed out.

"Ssh, Henry. I know. It's okay. Emma will find us. Emma and James."

A grunt came the front of the vehicle. "If I have to tell you two to shut up again, I'll forget my plan and plant a bullet in the back of both of your head's. So I suggest you both shut up."

Snow closed her eyes and willed the tears to stay in place. She needed to stay brave for Henry, but she couldn't help but feeling slightly out of her element here. She had never faced off against someone with a gun. A sword? Sure. A bow and arrow? Of course. Not a gun. She wasn't even entirely sure how to get the upper hand against someone with a gun. For now, she would wait. Praying that Emma and James would save them.

Against her own better judgment, and before she did something potentially stupid, Snow placed Henry behind her. Once she was certain he was out of the direct line of the gun or a stray bullet, Snow turned back toward the front of the van. There was someone driving that she couldn't see, but she was certain that it was either Regina or Rumpelstiltskin, neither was her favorite choice. However, the man with the gun, the one she assumed to be Balefire, was in plain view. "Balefire, think about this."

He grunted. "That is not my name, and that God-forsaken man is not my father!"

Snow bit back a smile. She had hit a nerve, and knew she could use this. If she could keep his attention on Rumpelstiltskin, she could come up with a plan or even perhaps get the upper hand. Regina was an evil witch, that much was simple, but she wasn't the gun toting type. Snow knew that if she could get the gun away from Balefire, then she would have the upper hand.

"He is you're father, Balefire."

Balefire turned in his seat to glare at her. "Really? The man that chose power and darkness over his own son? The man that never breaks a deal, would rather break one with his son then go to a place where his powers would be useless. Yeah, right. Fantastic father he turned out to be."

Snow barely knew the story. Only what Emma had managed to tell her. From what she remembered, Rumpelstiltskin had made a deal with his son, that if he could find a way to rid him of his powers, he'd do it. However, Balefire's plan was for his father and himself to come to this world, where Rumpelstiltskin's powers would be useless. When faced with the actual choice, Rumpelstiltskin had been a coward, who watched his son disappear through the magical portal. Afterward, he had regretted his decision, but it was far too late for that. Snow couldn't begin to imagine dealing with life in this world all on you're own at such a young age. Which caused her thoughts to drift to Emma.

"Balefire, you're father is a cowardly man. I won't deny you that, but if it helps, he regretted his decision every single day."

He sneered at Snow. "Oh yeah, that makes me feel so much better. You have no idea what life was like for me here."

Snow sighed. "No, but Emma does."

Balefire cringed. "Be that as it may, she has to pay for what she did to me. It's her fault that I ended up in prison after all."

Snow pointed at him. "Is it not your fault that Emma was in prison? That she was forced to give up her child to that evil-" Snow bit her lip to keep the curses from slipping from her lips. Normally she wouldn't care, but cursing in front of her grandson was not something she relished. "witch?" The van that they were in swerved slightly, and Snow could see a clenched hand on the steering wheel. She smiled softly. "Hello, Regina. I wasn't entirely sure it was you, but you just showed you're cards."

Balefire grunted. "Shut up." It was whisper as he glared at her. "Otherwise, my partner will pull over, and I will be forced to harm you both. You don't want that do you? I have no plans to kill either of you, but I will if you force me to."

Regina grunted, and Snow could hear her whisper something. Her eyes went wide. Emma had been right. He had offered her custody of Henry in order for her. Snow's stomach tumbled at the thought of that woman raising her grandson. Snow would much rather die, than see that happen.

* * *

Emma paced the small floor space in front of the hospital bed she was supposed to be lying in. "Alright, did you hear anything?" Emma asked, the sheriff in her taking over. If she pretended like this wasn't her mother or son that was missing, then she'd have a better chance of finding them.

James thought back, he thought he had heard a muffled scuffling noise, but he hadn't thought much about it at the time. He gulped slightly, praying that his wife and grandson weren't hurt. "I think I heard a scuffling noise. I didn't think much of it at the time, but-"

Emma nodded. "It could have been them."

James face grew pale. If he had rushed toward them when he heard the noise, he might have been able to save them. He felt sick, as his head fell into his hands.

"Dad." Emma's voice called out, as she placed a hand on his shoulder. They both couldn't break down, no matter how badly Emma might want to. At least Henry wasn't alone, that's what she kept telling herself. Finally Emma got James to look at her. "Letting ourselves lose control isn't going to help us find them."

James nodded, he knew his daughter was right. Looking at her in that moment. The determined set of her jaw and her blue eyes tried to hide the fear that she felt. James had never known his daughter, he hadn't been there to see her grow into the woman she is now, and it killed him. However, seeing the strength in her at this moment made his heart swell with pride. "You're right, Emma." He stood up, straightened his back and waited for Emma to take the lead since she seemed to have her act together better than he did.

"I just need to tell Graham what's going on. I don't want him to think we just left him here."

James placed a hand on Emma's good arm, and pointed at the still mangled piece of flesh that was still cradled to her chest. "You're arm."

"Will still be there when we find my son and mother." Emma said firmly, her lips set into a thin line. A broken arm was nothing compared to what could be happening to them. She'd rather see the damn thing cut off then lose one of them because she had to get her arm tended to first.

James merely nodded, knowing he'd never talk her into staying. He watched as she started to walk off. Right as her foot lifted to take the fifth step her cell phone started to ring. Emma had trouble yanking the device from her jean pocket with only one arm, but once she did, her face paled. Accepting the call, she pressed the device to her ear. "Hello?" James waited half a beat before rushing up beside his daughter who turned white as a ghost. Finally she whispered. "Mom."

* * *

**I apologize for the cliffhanger, was it necessary? No, probably not. However, it was fun. So review, perhaps I'll update quickly. **


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N: A little shorter than I was going for, but this is setting up the last two chapters. There will be an epilogue-and I'm thinking of doing a sequel...but it depends on a few things. Like, if you guys want a sequel for instance. **_

* * *

Snow's held Henry tight, as the van jerked forward before coming to a stop. She watched as Balefire turned in his seat. A sadistic smile on his face. "I have a make a call. You better be a good girl." His face turned into a sneer when he turned back toward Regina. "Watch them closely." Snow couldn't see Regina's reaction to his words, but whatever it was must have been sufficient enough for Balefire to leave them alone.

Once he was outside of the van, Snow could no longer see him. However, that didn't make her feel any safer. Regina was just as bad, if not worse than Balefire. Sure, he had a gun, which Snow still hadn't figure out how to get away from him, but Regina had magic. Even if it was unpredictable here, it didn't mean she wouldn't be willing to use it. Especially if it was against someone she hated, like Snow's entire family, except for Henry.

"I understand now, why you're doing this. You never do anything without getting something in return." Silence followed Snow's sentence. Even if she knew that Regina wouldn't say anything, she wanted that evil witch to know that she would only get Henry back over her dead body. "I just need you to know-" Snow sighed, knowing her next words could upset Henry. She placed her hands over the young boy's ears so he couldn't hear her next words. "You will only get Henry back if every single member of my family is dead. Hell, you'd have to kill the entire town. No one will stand to see you have control over anyone else, especially someone as young and good-hearted as Henry."

Snow fought back a smile as Regina rose to the bait. With her hands still firmly over Henry's ears she watched as Regina turned in her seat and looked Snow in the eye. "Oh don't worry, Snow. I'll have my son back, and no one in your family will be able to stop me." Just as quickly as she turned around, Regina was back facing the road again, as Balefire climbed back into the van.

"It's all set. My father is setting up the room now." Balefire smiled wickedly. "Alright, Snow White, you're up." She watched as he dialed a number, and just seeing only a few of the numbers, she knew who he was calling. Her stomach dropped as the phone was thrust into her face. She shook her head, until the gun came back into view. This time, pointing at Henry. Snow let go of Henry's ears and grabbed the phone.

Pulling it to her ear, she heard her daughter's voice on the other end. With tears in her eyes, Snow's mouth opened. "Emma." It was a whispered, ragged sob. Henry's head snapped toward her, pleading eyes staring at her, but she knew better than to disobey Balefire right now. Hearing her daughter's voice break on the other line broke her heart.

Just as quickly as she was hearing her daughter's ragged voice, it was quickly taken away. Balefire snatched the phone from her ear. A wicked grin on his drawn face. "Hello, Emma." His face grew to a scowl, and Snow grinned at the obvious colorful language that her daughter was using. "Listen. If you want your mother and son to stay alive, you'd better listen." A sinister smile crept onto his lips, which told Snow that he had gotten his way. "You will meet us at the Storybrooke library in half an hour. If you are so much as a minute late, I will put a bullet in one of my hostages. This will continue until you show up or they're dead. The choice is yours Miss Swan." After that, he disconnected the call and tossed the phone out the window.

Snow watched as he turned toward her, the same smile on his face. "Thank you, Snow White. You just led your daughter and husband to their deaths. I thank you for the help."

Snow's stomach convulsed uncomfortably as she fought the urge to throw up. The image of Emma and James laying dead in a pool of blood was emblazoned in her mind, as Henry stared at her wide-eyed. Snow needed a plan, and she needed one now.

* * *

It took everything in Emma to not throw the phone to the ground and stomp on it. She growled for a moment, before realizing that her father was looking at her expectantly. Sighing, she closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose to calm herself down.

"He wants me to meet him at the library—or he's going to kill them."

James nodded, the frown on his face proved he expected as much. "I had a feeling." He said simply. "You're not going alone."

Emma's head snapped up at that. Her eyes pierced his, and she realized that no words she said would budge him on the matter. "I can't lose my family." She finally whispered. Her heart constricted. Both at having opened up so much with those few little words, and at the actual thought of losing any member of her growing family. She watched James open his mouth, she put up a hand to stop him. "Promise me that Graham won't come. I have to know at least one person I care about is safe."

James nodded. "We can't lie to him, though. He might love you unconditionally-" James sighed at that. He might not know the huntsman well, but what he did see of his interaction with Emma showed James just how much Graham loved her. "but if you lie to him-"

Emma nodded. Sighing, she walked toward Graham's curtained off area. He smiled at her when she walked into his room. "I was afraid you weren't coming back." He said softly, reaching out a hand for hers. His brow wrinkled, noticing that her arm was still without a cast. "I thought they were taking care of that?" He asked, pointing at her arm.

Emma adverted his eyes. "Something has come up. I have to leave, but can you tell Dr. Whale that I'll be back to finish the examination later?"

Graham brushed his fingertips against Emma's cheek until she looked up at him. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing-" She heard James cough awkwardly behind her. Sending a glare his way, she turned back to Graham. "Garrett—Balefire-whoever the hell he is. He kidnapped Henry and my mom. I have to go met him somewhere, otherwise he'll kill them."

Graham sat up, and attempted to remove the I.V.'s from his arm. Emma tried to force him back onto the bed, but with only one good arm she might as well have been trying to move a wall. "Graham, please." Emma whispered. He looked up at her and something tugged at his heart.

"Emma doesn't want you to come." James interjected.

The hurt expression on Graham's face nearly broke Emma's heart. "I don't want you to get hurt. Garrett-" Emma sighed. "He's a wild card, and if he's there-" Emma closed her eyes. "Then Regina will be there." Emma's lip snarled upward knowing that she was with her son, again. After she had promised him that he'd never have to be around her ever again. "I can't have everyone I care about in danger. I can't stop my father from coming, but I will stop you."

Graham sighed, before laying back onto the bed. He looked to James. "Keep her safe." James nodded stiffly. "Emma." Graham called out, as she turned her back on him to leave. "At least put a sling on that arm, and come back to me."

She smiled, realizing how easy it was to fall back into step with Graham, even after everything that had happened. His hand clasped around her good wrist, and pulled her to him. Pressing his lips to her cheek, "I love you. Always. Remember that, Emma."

Emma swallowed the lump in her throat as she pulled back, placing a hand against his cheek before turning around. Panic swelled in her noticing that her father was missing. Her mouth opened to call out to him, when he reappeared, a sling in his hand. Handing it to her, they made their way toward the exit. As the door started to slide close, Emma and James could hear Dr. Whale call out to them to stop. They pushed forward, they only had fifteen minutes left and they needed some sort of protection against Garrett and Regina.

* * *

Balefire grinned at Snow as he clasped the last handcuff in place. Her feet were tied together, dangling helpless beneath her. Her arms holding her weight, as her hands were handcuffed to two separate pipes. The stress on her arms was already starting to cause her biceps to burn furiously. She bit back the pained gasp that wanted to escape. Instead she focused her attention on Henry who was sitting on the floor beneath her feet. She could barely see him, but knew that his arms were bound behind his back. Tied to one of the pipes that was currently holding her prisoner.

"This should hold the two of you until our guests arrive. I know Emma will want to come alone, but I hope she at least brings your husband with her." He eyed Snow. "It would be an added bonus if she brought that _**man**_ with her."

Snow felt her body tense as she bit back a response to Balefire's attempts to get a rise out of her.

"Graham is a good guy!" Henry cried out. The boy had been fairly silent since Balefire had kidnapped the both of them. Except for the couple of occasions in which he had cried out for Emma. Hearing the defiance in his voice made Snow swell with pride, and cringe at what Balefire might do in retaliation. "Better than you! I wish he was my father."

Snow watched Balefire stalk forward. Tears pricked her eyes as she tugged against her restraints. "Don't you dare touch him!" Snow yelled out.

Balefire sneered at Henry, before turning his attention to Snow. "I told you to shut him up! Couldn't even get that right, could you? Let me ask you something, Snow White. What makes you any better than my good for nothing father?"

Snow glared at him. "What do you mean?"

"Are you not a coward, just like him? Let's face it. You sent your only daughter to this world alone. So, how are you any better than my father?"

Snow's mouth bobbed open and close for a moment. Tears in her eyes. "We had to give Emma, her best chance." She whispered.

"Is that what you tell yourself? That you doing what was best for her? Do you think being alone her entire life was best for her? Obviously it did wonders for me." Balefire's white teeth glinted at her.

Snow's body started to shake as a sob escaped her lips. "Stop it!" Henry screamed out. "You're hurting her!"

"That's the point."

"Bay. That's about enough." Rumpelstiltskin wondered into the room.

Balefire turned toward his father. "No. It's not. You'll know when it's enough. I'll stop." Rumpelstiltskin took a step toward his son, his arms outstretched. "I don't think so father. Now that my plan is in motion I can be honest." Rumpelstiltskin just stared at Balefire. Realization lit up his features, as a tear slipped down his cheek. "I hate you. I always have, and I always will. You are nothing but a coward." Balefire turned his back on his father.

Rumpelstiltskin looked up at Snow, tears in his eyes. A defeated look on his face. Snow had never seen him look so broken, ever. He was Rumpelstiltskin, the most powerful man in their world. "I am sorry, dearie." With that he disappeared into the back room. Snow sighed. Her daughter and husband were going to walk into an ambush, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. There was nothing she could do but watch it happen, and that thought made her sick to her stomach.


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N: So...we're drawing to a close. So far, only one of you have asked for a sequel, so before I start writing the next chapter (which will be the last) I need to know if you want one or not. I have two endings planned, one leads into a sequel and one just ties this story up with a nice pretty little bow. So to write a sequel or to not write a sequel, that is the question.**_

* * *

Emma pulled her mother's car up to the curb, before making a face at the dashboard's clock. Time was literally ticking away, and they still had to figure out what sort of weapon they were going to use. Scratch that. James had to figure out what kind of weapon _**he**_ was going to use. Emma had a pistol locked away in her gun safe that had a bullet with Garrett's name written all over it. If he laid a hand on her son or mother, then she had a couple of bullets. If either of them were hurt, then she was going to enjoy making him suffer. A shot to the leg, one to the arm. Nothing life threatening. Make him beg her to kill him. Of course, this would transpire after she got Henry out of there. He did not need to see his mother torturing his father to death. The poor kid had already witnessed far too much bad stuff in his short, ten year old life.

"I'm grabbing my gun. You better find a weapon quick, or I will leave you behind. We're running out of time."

James put a hand on her good arm. Concern was written on his features, and it made Emma squirm uncomfortably. "You're arm, Emma. You cannot shoot a gun with that arm."

Emma glared at him. "I will cut the damn thing off if I have to. I will do whatever is necessary to save my son. Even if I have to kill his father in front of him." She sighed. It was something that she had thought about. What if Garrett pulled a weapon of his own? One of them would have to take him down, and there was no way to shield Henry from that. Even if Emma yelled at him to cover his eyes, he would still know what was going on. Especially if Emma had to shoot him.

James nodded. "Luckily I was able to retrieve my sword." Emma's cheeks flushed red.

"Yeah, sorry." Suddenly it hit her. The last time she had fought like hell to save her son, she had to fight something in the library. She decided that once everyone was safely outside of the building, that she was going to enjoy watching it burn to the ground. If it was no longer standing then she would no longer have to fight anyone to save her son in it. That place was a bad omen, and she was going to torch it the first chance she got.

"It's fine." He smiled proudly at his daughter. "Let's be quick. We have to save our family."

Emma nodded. They both jumped out of the car, and ran up the steps two at time. James quickly unlocked the door and threw it open. Emma groaned, finding that the apartment wasn't empty. "I don't have time for you!" Emma yelled, as she ran past the stunned man sitting at the kitchen table. Emma disappeared up the stairs, random curse words thrown around, before a yell of glee could be heard.

"What did I miss?"

James stared at the man sitting at his kitchen table. Something about him was familiar, but James couldn't quite put his finger on it. It was mainly his eyes, but it was driving James crazy. "Who are you?" He finally asked, as he moved past the stranger and opened the closet door, and removed his sword from within.

"That's August—err—Pinocchio." Emma paused her sentence as she ran back down the steps, her breathing hitched from exhaustion and pain. "It's a long story." She looked to her dad, before turning her attention to August. "I really do not have time. My stupid, crazy ex kidnapped my son and mother."

August stood up, worry written on his face. "How can I help."

Emma shook her head, as she opened the front door again. "Thanks, August, really, but I can't have anyone else getting hurt. I wouldn't even let Graham come with us." Confusion lit up his features before Emma realized that August had no idea who Graham was. "I'll explain later. Speaking of," Emma paused her move toward the front door, and turned back toward August. "I want an explanation of how you got into the apartment." August's mouth opened, but Emma held up a hand. "Later. I want the explanation later." With that, the front door shut behind them, as August sat back down in a huff.

* * *

Balefire glared at his two hostages, Henry had tears rolling down his cheeks while Snow simply just glared back at Balefire.

"Now, Henry. Why are you crying?"

Henry sniffed loudly, before looking at his supposed father. "Because I don't want you to be my dad."

Balefire laughed. "Well, I don't want to have a son. You win some, you lose some." Balefire shrugged his shoulders. "If you're mother doesn't hurt up, then I won't have to worry about either of you for too much longer."

The door near the back of the room slammed shut, as Regina stalked forward. "It's nearly time."

Balefire sighed, as he shook his head. "You're quite annoying." He seethed at her.

"I'm just making sure that you stick to our deal. You can do whatever you want to that wretched woman, but you better not a lay hand on Henry."

"Yeah, yeah." Balefire said, as he waved Regina off.

She bent down so that she was eye level with Henry. "I'm going to do everything I can to protect you."

Henry looked down. No matter how evil Regina was, or how much Henry was frighten of her, he knew that until Emma showed up to save them, that Regina was his only hope. "But what about my grandma?" Henry asked, renewed tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Henry." Regina shook her head. She tried to feign compassion, but Henry could still see the evil glint that she was trying to hide.

"You want her dead." He finally said. "That's why I'll never love you." Henry spoke confidently. Even if it meant she would no longer protect him. Henry wanted his grandmother to know that he loved her and his whole family unconditionally.

"You always were a little brat." Regina spat at him, before standing back to her full height.

"That's why he's my son, and not yours." A voice boomed from behind her.

Balefire and Regina turned simultaneously toward the voice. A wicked smile crossed both their lips, as Balefire pulled out the gun that he had placed in the waistband of his jeans.

"You kept us waiting long enough, Emma." Balefire finally spoke, as he walked closer to her.

"I'd stop right there if I were you." James finally spoke up, making himself known as he crept in from Emma's left hand side. His sword was drawn, as he pointed the tip toward Balefire.

Balefire's lips pulled back over his teeth as he growled at Emma and James. "How sad, you brought a sword to a gun fight." Balefire said, as he pointed his gun from Emma to James and back again. "Now, the only question left is, who shall I kill first."

Emma growled. "You said that you would let them go. All you want is me. Well here I am. Just let my family go."

Balefire smirked at Emma. "Sorry, Em. No can do. You see, the plan all along was for you to come in here, charging to save the day. I knew you'd bring you're father with you. How much easier would it be for me kill the entire Charming family than right now. You want to know what would have been better, and made me even more gleeful?" Balefire asked, as he stared at Emma for a moment. She stood, her hands on her hips, unwilling to let his words push her into dangerous territory. "Is if you would have brought that God-awful man. What's his name again? Oh, right. _**Graham**_." Balefire spat his name out like it left a horrendously bad taste in his mouth. Emma tried to stay calm, but her anger was starting to build. "Alas, you didn't bring him. No worry though, I assure you that I can most likely find him, and finish him off, but right now I must focus on you, and you're pathetic family. The great Charming family. It's sad, really. You're mother is strung up by her arms, I know she must be getting tired. You know what is great about this, Emma? I'm going to save you for last. I am going to make you watch while I kill you're entire family. I want you to beg me for death to come."

Emma stared at him as a growl escaped her lips. Her hand twitched toward the gun that sat in the waistband of her jeans. In that moment, Emma wanted nothing more than to pull her service weapon and put a bullet right between his eyes. James saw the look on her face, and her hand inching toward the gun hidden behind her back. If she gave away their plan this early, then it would certainly fail and none of them would make it out alive. So instead of facing the risk of losing his entire family, James lunged forward before she could do something stupid. His sword caught Balefire in his left arm, who squealed out in pain, before raising his gun in his right hand high above his head and smashing it down against James' temple. Confusion lit up James' face as his vision blurred and swam into graying pools of unconsciousness. He felt his body crumple to the floor, as he stared up at the ceiling. Suddenly he was staring up into the dark, rage filled eyes of Balefire, his gun pointed directly at James' head.

"I guess you'll be going first...Prince Charming." Balefire spat at him. He cocked the gun in his hand as his finger started to pull back on the trigger. The room started to move in slow motion. From her angle, Emma had the perfect view to watch the bullet burst through her father's head. She could do exactly what Balefire wanted, she would be watching her father die. Not only die, but literally watch the life drain out of him. Her hand twisted and turned as she yanked her service weapon from her waistband, and aimed. Emma was fairly certain she wouldn't be able to pull the trigger in time. One gunshot sounded in the room, followed quickly by another one. Emma rushed forward as Balefire's body crumpled to the floor. She knelt down next to her father, as she looked him over. No blood surrounded his body, there was no bullet in his head. "Dad!" Emma shouted at him. His blue eyes shot open, as he probed the room. "Thank God." Emma sighed in relief.

Without a second thought, Emma shot up to her full height, before rummaging through Balefire's pockets, and grabbed the keys. She lurched forward, ignoring the pain in her arm from the recoil of her weapon, as she first removed the cuffs from her mother's legs, and Henry's hands, before releasing her mother's arms.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked looking at her mother, but bending down toward Henry.

Snow merely nodded, as she rubbed her chafing wrists. Henry's eyes went wide. "Mom." He squealed, as Emma turned around just in time to see the bullet heading straight for her chest. With no time to react, she felt the red hot pain of the bullet ripping through her chest, as she crumpled to the ground. Snow grabbed the gun that was in her daughter's hand, pulled the trigger twice more, as Balefire finally crumpled to the ground in a lifeless heap. Out of the corner of her eyes Snow saw Regina disappear and Rumpelstiltskin make his appearance known. He fell to his knees next to Balefire, and cried out for his lost son.

Snow couldn't care less about Rumpelstiltskin's pain, as she fell to her knees next to Emma. Her breathing was coming out in quick, rapid gasps. Henry was kneeling on the opposite side, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Come on, Emma." Snow spoke softly, as she removed the sweater she was still wearing. She pressed the white fabric against the gushing wound in Emma's chest.

She could hear James attempting to stand up behind her, and make his way over toward his fallen daughter. A wave of dizziness made James collapse to his knees beside Snow. His hands took over for hers, putting more pressure on Emma's wound. Tears cascaded down their cheeks, as Emma stared at them wide eyed. Her breathing was becoming less rapid and more shallow, as her skin started to pale considerably. Snow was calling for an ambulance, but held Emma's hand tightly with her free hand.

"I love you." Emma choked out, before her eyes drooped close and her breathing slowly came to an end.

* * *

_**A/N: Now...was it absolutely necessary for me to end the chapter there? Well-kind of yes...Was it fun to end the story there? Hell yes! With that said...the more reviews I get (especially answering the question I posed above) the faster I will update this. I know that's killing you. Is she alive-is she dead-what is gonna happen now...It will all be revealed in the last chapter. So go on now, leave me a little review. I kind of LOVE them. **_


	13. The Alternate Ending

_**A/N: So...I was asked to write down both endings. So I figured I'd post the 'alternate' ending first. This was the ending I was going to write if I wasn't going to write a sequel, but since you all seem to want one-and some have even chanted for one, I will be writing a sequel. I know the basics of the storyline behind the sequel. Just not entirely sure how much of anything outside of the charming family with Graham included, will be involved. Enjoy this chapter, and expect the real ending to have much of the same kind of stuff...with a few...very different things. **_

* * *

Snow laid the phone down, with the promise of an ambulance coming still fresh in her ears. James had tears sliding down his cheeks, that were starting to mingle with the blood that was starting to cake in his beard stubble. She reached out a ginger hand, and touched the still oozing wound on the side of his head. A large whelp was starting to form. At her touch, he cringed as a hiss escaped his lips.

"I want you to get examined when we get to the hospital."

James shook his head, and fought off the impending dizziness that follow. "I have to stay with you and Henry. I have to make sure that Emma is going to be alright."

"Listen to me, James. We need you healthy. Please." Snow's voice was pleading, as she placed a hand over one of his blood soaked ones.

He sighed, before pinching his eyes closed. James yelped out in pain, his hands coming off of Emma's chest as he collapsed to the floor.

"Grandpa!" Henry screamed, tears still rolling down his cheeks.

Snow glanced between her husband who lay unconscious on the floor, and her daughter was literally bleeding to death in front of her. Quickly, she pressed her hands down as hard as she dared, against the still oozing chest wound, while she made eye contact with Henry.

"Go check on James, Henry." Snow said, nodding toward her fallen husband.

Henry's mouth opened to refuse, but quickly shut it. He nodded his head solemnly, before crawling toward James' still body. "Grandpa." Henry called out, his little hands pressed against his shoulder as he shook him. "Please wake up." Henry's voice broke over the words, as he fell forward, laying across James' chest. His body shook, as silent sobs wracked his tiny body.

Snow felt the rush of tears stream down her cheeks, when she heard the faint sounds of sirens. Closing her eyes, as a new batch of tears cascaded down her cheeks, the sound drew closer. The sound of doors opening and closing could be heard, but was quickly replaced with boots thumping against the sidewalk. "Go let them in, Henry." Snow said, urgency in her voice.

He lifted his head from his grandfather's chest, as he swiped a hand against his face. Standing up, Henry took off running toward the front of the building, opening the door open wide. "It's my mom. She's hurt." He cried out. One of the paramedics stayed behind to look Henry over, while the rest rushed in.

"Are you hurt?"

Henry shook his head. "Just help my mom. Please." He begged.

The paramedic nodded, as he wondered in further to find the rest of his crew. One was knelt beside James, checking him over, while the rest were strapping Emma to a gurney.

"Please, let us do our jobs." One of the paramedics said, before wheeling Emma from the room.

They quickly followed suit with James, leaving Henry and Snow to stand in the room alone. Rumpelstiltskin had long since left, and all that remained was two pairs of handcuffs in a whole lot of blood.

* * *

Snow used quick strides all the way into the emergency room, her eyes found the gurney that was rolling her, still unconscious, husband toward a curtained off area. She knew that Emma was already being tended to, and because James' injuries were far less severe that he'd be waiting until they had tended to Emma. Until she was, hopefully, stabilized enough, at least.

"Someone...please." Snow called out.

The nurse that was still seated at the front desk rushed out of her seat, and walked forward. "Snow White." She said softly.

Snow merely nodded her head, unable to trust her voice for a moment. She took a deep breath, before clearing her throat. "My daughter and husband were brought in."

The nurse's face paled slightly. Snow didn't recognize her from the enchanted forest. At least not right away. "Your daughter was taken directly to surgery. I have no further information on her condition. Your husband is being seen by the secondary care physician. He will be out to speak with you shortly on your husband's condition. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Snow sighed, as she picked at her blood soaked clothes. "A couple of things." The nurse merely nodded. "Is Graham still being treated? He was brought in for a concussion and broken ribs."

The nurse stared at Snow blankly for a moment. "I'll check and see. Anything else?" She asked.

"You wouldn't happen to have anything else that I could change into?" Snow motioned toward her blood drenched clothing.

The nurse nodded. "Yes, of course!" She waved Snow closer to the front desk. Reaching underneath of it, the nurse retrieved a pair of blue scrubs. "I'm sorry, this is all we have."

Snow waved her off. "It's perfectly fine. I promise." She looked down at Henry. His eyes were wide and still. Snow was certain that he was experiencing shock, and she did not blame her grandson at all. If she didn't have to take care of him she would be in the same shape. That fact alone was the only thing that was causing her from falling into the deep, depths of despair. "I hate to ask, but could you keep an eye on my grandson while I change?"

The nurse sighed. "That's not a problem." Though her voice reflected the fact that it was. The nurse eyed Henry for a moment before looking back at Snow. "Would you like me have a doctor look at him? He looks like he's in full blown shock."

Snow felt defensive of her grandson, who was obviously in no place to defend himself. "He's fine. Just keep an eye on him, please." Snow uttered, a bit of a bite to her words.

The nurse gave her a curt nod, as Snow wondered off to the area labeled as a bathroom. Entering the large room, she sighed. She did not want anyone else to come in. Snow needed a moment to contain herself, before putting on a false front that she would most likely have to hold up until they had word on how Emma and James were. She locked the large door that led into the large room, and turned toward the mirrors.

She looked absolutely ghastly. Her face was pale, except for her cheeks that were red from all of her unshed tears. Her eyes were red and puffy from holding in the overwhelming amount of emotion that wanted to pour out of her. Then there was her blood stained hands that trailed down her blood stained clothing. Stripping the clothes from her body, Snow grabbed them from the floor and tossed them into the trash bin. Her stomach tumbled uncomfortably, but she fought back the urge to vomit, as she pulled the scrub pants on followed by the shirt.

Looking back into the mirror, Snow sighed. The way the light glinted off of the sky blue scrub clothing set, made her face appear even more pale than it already was. Taking a deep breath, Snow closed her eyes for a moment trying to gain composure over her growing emotions.

Turning the faucet on full blast, she let the water get as hot as she was certain she could stand, before adding just a hint of cold water to keep it at the current temperature. She shoved her hands under the tap, and bit back a hiss at the hotness of the water burning her skin. Layering her red stained hands with soap, she lathered up her hands before shoving them back under the scolding water. She scrubbed at her hands, digging her fingernails into the skin, making sure that every single drop of blood was removed from her skin. When she was certain that her hands were near bleeding stage, she pulled them back and turned off the water. She towel dried them, hissing at the stinging, burning sensation in her hands.

Snow gripped the edge of one of the sinks as a pain coursed through her chest. It was so strong that she thought that it would surely knock her off of her feet. Tears welled in her eyes, and Snow knew that she would no longer be able to keep them at bay. Taking a single, shaky breath, she let the flood gates open wide, as tears splashed against the ceramic sink. A silent sob shook her body, as her arms wobbled and nearly gave out under the brunt of her grief.

She let her emotional breakdown continue for a few moments until she was able to gain control over herself enough to cut off the tears, and keep her shaking to a minimum. Looking in the mirror again, she sighed. She wiped under her eyes, hoped that Henry wouldn't see that she had broken down. Patting down her stiff clothing, Snow took a deep breath before exiting the bathroom and rejoining her grandson.

Graham was sitting next to Henry, holding his hand tightly. Henry's shoulders were shaking, and Snow knew that Henry was finally allowing himself to breakdown, and release his own grief. Silently, Snow sat down beside him, and grabbed his other hand.

His head turned toward her. His eyes were still wide, now clouded by unshed tears. "My mom-" He hiccuped. "She's—gonna—be.." He couldn't finish his thought as another sob brought through, causing his small body to shake uncontrollably.

Snow removed her hand from his, and rubbed his back soothingly, as tears started to reappear in her eyes. Out of the corner of her bleary eye, Snow saw movement heading their direction. She looked up to see a doctor head toward them. Looking back at Graham, she motioned with her head in the direction of the doctor. He merely nodded, as Snow stood up to talk with the doctor.

"Are you here for James-"

"Yes." Snow cut him off before he could finish.

He merely shook his head. "We were fearful of James' head injury due to his recent coma." Snow nodded, as she listened intently. "We did a round of testing. We haven't found any swelling or bleeding on his brain, which is great. He isn't conscious yet, but that is to be expected with most head trauma's. He has a sizable bump on the side of his head were the weapon made contact. We also stitched up the open wound. We don't feel that he will have any after effects, and expect that he will make a full recovery. Right now, we're just waiting for him to wake up."

Snow nodded as a couple of tears slipped down her cheeks. A tiny sense of relief overwhelmed her, but she didn't let it settle in. Her daughter's life was still hanging in the balance and Snow refused to feel any great amount of relief until someone told her that Emma was indeed alive, and would be fine. "When can I see him."

The doctor nodded. "I can give you a couple of minutes with him now. We are sitting a room up for him right now. I want to keep him for a couple of days, just as a precaution. So, I can take you to see him for a few moments, but once his room is ready we will need to move him."

Snow nodded. She looked at Graham, and mouthed _James_. He nodded his head, and waved her on. Snow followed the doctor, as she entered the curtained off area where her husband lay on the bed. His body still, his face pale. The blood had been cleaned off his hands, his blood clothes had been removed as well. The blood on his face had also been cleaned, and Snow could see the large bump on the side of his head, as well as the few stitches that had closed up the open wound the gun impact had made.

"Oh, James." Snow cried out, as pain tore through her at seeing him. She grabbed a hold of one of his hands, as tears welled at the edge of her eyes. Snow tried to blink them away, but one escaped and crawled its way down her face.

A moan cried out from the bed, and Snow's eyes immediately probed the still motionless form of her husband. She waited a second, as his eyes slowly opened. "Snow?" James called out, his voice hoarse.

"It is me." She smiled sadly, her hand pressed against his cheek.

"Emma." He moaned out.

She sighed. "Emma's in surgery, James. I haven't been told anything else."

He sighed. "Surgery means she's alive." James said softly, his voice merely a whisper.

"That's right, James." Snow sighed. "I'm going to go get your doctor." She said, before disappearing.

* * *

Snow sat with Henry, his hand clasped tightly in hers. Tears were rolling, unchecked, down his cheeks. Graham was pacing the floor in front of her, as August sighed loudly, his head lulled to the side as his eyes started to droop close. August had rushed into the emergency room only a half hour earlier. He claimed that he had been waiting in our apartment for Emma to return, as she had instructed. He went onto to explain that when a couple of hours passed and no one had returned that he figured things had gone bad with retrieving Henry and myself. He didn't take the news of Emma's current predicament very well, but had settled down when Graham had glared at him.

Snow noticed that Graham's hands were bawled into tight fists at his sides. His strides were quick. Two up and two back. It was a rhythmic motion, and if it helped keep him calm then Snow was willing to allow him to continue doing it. Even if it was driving her crazy. Suddenly though, Graham stopped and turned abruptly.

"I knew I should have made her take me with her. I could have stopped this from happening." Tears slowly started to roll down his cheeks, as he collapsed in the empty chair next to Snow. "I love her so much. We were pulled apart for so long." He gasped as a sob tore through him. He cradled an arm against his ribs. "I just..." He was out of words. There was nothing else to say.

"Snow." A voice called out. She stood up, and engulfed Ruby in a hug, as tears welled in her eyes. "She'll pull through. Emma is tough. The toughest person I know. She inherited your stubbornness, remember that."

Snow nodded, knowing she couldn't break down in front of Henry. Not when she had only recently calmed his sobs. She pulled Ruby away from the group a little ways, knowing she needed to get away from the group. She needed to check on James. "Can you watch them, and please, make sure that someone is holding Henry's hand. If he starts to get upset again, tell Graham I went to see James. He knows what room that he's in, he'll be able to come and get me."

Ruby nodded, as she just now realized that the ex-sheriff was very much alive, and sitting with his head in his hands. "I promise. Go on and check on James."

Snow nodded, before hugging Ruby once more. "I'm going to go check on James." She announced before kneeling in front of Henry. "Ruby is going to sit with you. If you need me to come back, send Graham after me, okay?" Henry nodded, as he swiped a hand across his face. "I love you, Henry."

"I love you too, Grandma." Snow smiled sadly at him before pressing her lips to his forehead.

She touched August on the shoulder, and followed suit with Graham, who placed his hand over top of hers. His blue eyes pierced hers. "I'm sorry for breaking down." His voice cracked.

Snow moved her hand to his cheek. "It's fine, Graham. If the doctor comes back while I'm gone, please come get me." Graham nodded his head. She patted his shoulder once more, before disappearing.

* * *

It had been nearly an hour since Snow had returned to the waiting area, and all of the waiting was starting to take it's toll on everyone that was sitting there. Ruby was asleep, her head lulled to the side, leaning against Snow's shoulder. Henry was curled up on the chair, his eyes continued to droop close, but he fought against sleep. Snow wasn't sure if it was because he needed to know about Emma or because he was afraid of the waiting nightmares. His head was leaning against Graham, and Snow could tell that the added pressure against his side was causing him pain, but Graham refused to ask Henry to move. August had left, making Snow promise to call him the instant that she knew anything. He promised to return first thing in the morning with fresh clothing, food, and coffee for everyone.

The sound of footsteps scuffling against the linoleum floor, caused Snow to jerk her head. The action had a domino effect, as Henry sat up peering in the same direction, which caused Graham's head to seek out the same information that the others were, and Ruby rubbed at her tired eyes as she too sat up.

"Emma Swan." Dr. Whale called out, as his eyes settled on the familiar faces in front of him.

Everyone stood up with Snow and Graham at the front with Henry smashed in-between them. Snow grabbed one of Henry's hands as Graham followed suit with Henry's other hand.

Dr. Whale cleared his throat and motioned toward Henry. Snow sighed, not entirely willing to keep information from her grandson, but didn't like the look on Dr. Whale's face. She peered back toward Ruby, who nodded.

"Henry, let's go grab some coffee so that your grandma can talk to the doctor."

Henry looked like he wanted to protest, but instead, bit his quivering lip and nodded as Ruby grabbed his hand and led him off.

"Do you want me to be completely honest with you?" Both of them nodded, as Dr. Whale looked at the chart in his hands for a moment. He sighed. "Emma came in with what would normally be a fatal gunshot wound to the upper, left hand side of her chest. The paramedics were able to get her breathing again, while they were en-route to the hospital, but not long after we got her into the emergency room, she coded. We wheeled her off to remove the bullet and assess the damage." Snow nodded, as Graham squeezed her hand. "We nearly lost her on the table—twice." Snow gasped loudly. "But we were able to get her heart started in both occasions. Emma was incredibly lucky. The bullet missed her heart and most of the vital artery's. It did clip a few blood vessels, which is what caused her to bleed so heavily. This caused her heart to overwork, and due to the trauma her body had already been through, her heart had simply given up. That is what caused her to code. We are certain that there isn't any permanent damage done to her heart, but we are going to have to watch that closely for a while to ensure. We were able to repair the blood vessels, and stop the internal bleeding. Despite how serious her injury was, and the fact that were nearly lost her, I expect that Emma will make a full recovery. She will need physical therapy once she is capable of activity. We have her in a medically induced coma, that she will stay in for the next couple of days while her body recovers from the trauma it has experienced. Once we take her off the medications that are keeping her asleep, she should wake up on her own, at which point we will keep her at least another week or so. Mainly to keep an eye on her heart, and to ensure that she doesn't exert herself physically."

Snow and Graham sighed in relief at the what the doctor said. Yeah it was bad, but it could have been so much worse. "Can we see her?"

"Not at this moment, I'm afraid. I will allow her visitor's first thing in the morning though."

Snow glared at Dr. Whale, before sighing. At least her daughter was alive. She had a grandson to find and a husband to talk to. Dr. Whale quietly excused himself, as Snow turned to Graham, who had a relived smile on his lips.

"I'll find Henry, if you want to go talk to James."

Snow nodded. "Thank you, Graham-" Snow paused, staring at the man that had saved her life so long ago. "I never properly thanked you for saving my life." She stood on her tip-toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"It was my honor." He grinned at her.

Snow smiled back at him, before disappearing to go find her husband. Graham walked forward to locate the cafeteria, and hopefully Henry as well.

* * *

Two days passed in what felt like two years. The days had dragged on for all involved. Graham had tried to spend sometime in the woods, with his wolf brother, but he felt his heart tugging him back to the hospital. He spent most of his days at Emma's bedside, holding her hand. Snow alternated her time between Emma's room and James' room, while Ruby took care of Henry. He spent a few hours at a time at the hospital, sitting vigil at his mother's bedside and visiting his very antsy grandfather.

Two hours ago, Dr. Whale had taken Emma off the medication keeping her asleep. He had explained that she could wake up at anytime after the medication wore off. They were all at her bedside. James and Snow sat on one side, with Henry snuggled up against Snow's chest sound asleep. Graham and Ruby sat on the other side, as they stared at Emma's unmoving form. August was the odd man out, standing with his back leaned against the wall and his arms crossed over his chest.

Slowly, Emma's fingers moved, followed by her eyelids. A flutter here or there for a few minutes, before they finally fluttered open. She glanced around the room, before settling on James' face.

"What happened?" She rasped. James stood up, a bit too fast as he swayed slightly, as he grabbed for the ice chips sitting on the stand beside her bed. He fed her a couple of the chips, before answering her.

"You were shot."

"Oh, that's what that intense pain is." Emma groaned, as she shut her eyes against the pain.

A audible sigh overcame the room, as Emma opened her eyes again and found Graham's face. "Are you okay?" She asked.

He chuckled lightly, his hand reached out for hers. "You were shot, and you're asking me if I'm okay?" His eyebrow shot up.

"Yes."

He sighed. "My ribs are still sore, but I'm fine."

Emma attempted a nod, but groaned before she realized that there was one face she hadn't seen. Her eyes shot open. "Henry!?" She called out.

"I'm okay." He called out. He stood next to her bed, wanting nothing more than to climb into the bed next to her.

Emma eyed her father, who nodded. He hefted Henry up onto the bed. Slowly and carefully he crawled forward to hug his mother. "I was so scared." He whispered.

"I'm sorry." Emma said, as her hand lifted to his back. "I love you so much." Emma said, with tears in her eyes.

"I love you too." Henry said back, with tear stains on his cheeks.

Ruby stood up without anyone noticing, and walked toward August. She motioned for him to follow her. "Let's give them some alone time." She said when they were outside. They went to find a place to sit until someone came to get them. Both were content to wait now that Emma was awake, aware, and alive.


	14. The REAL Ending

_**A/N: So...this is the real ending. *shocked face* I actually increased the words of this chapter by a full on 1200 words. 5,312 words is a bit lengthy. Apologies ahead of time for the lengthiness. Now, there are some things the same. Like most of the beginning, but most of the middle and the end are totally different. I hope you enjoy it. **_

* * *

Snow laid the phone down, with the promise of an ambulance coming still fresh in her ears. James had tears sliding down his cheeks, that were starting to mingle with the blood that was starting to cake in his beard stubble. She reached out a ginger hand, and touched the still oozing wound on the side of his head. A large whelp was starting to form. At her touch, he cringed as a hiss escaped his lips.

"I want you to get examined when we get to the hospital."

James shook his head, and fought off the impending dizziness that follow. "I have to stay with you and Henry. I have to make sure that Emma is going to be alright."

"Listen to me, James. We need you healthy. Please." Snow's voice was pleading, as she placed a hand over one of his blood soaked ones.

He sighed, before pinching his eyes closed. James yelped out in pain, his hands coming off of Emma's chest as he collapsed to the floor.

"Grandpa!" Henry screamed, tears still rolling down his cheeks.

Snow glanced between her husband who lay unconscious on the floor, and her daughter was literally bleeding to death in front of her. Quickly, she pressed her hands down as hard as she dared, against the still oozing chest wound, while she made eye contact with Henry.

"Go check on James, Henry." Snow said, nodding toward her fallen husband.

Henry's mouth opened to refuse, but quickly shut it. He nodded his head solemnly, before crawling toward James' still body. "Grandpa." Henry called out, his little hands pressed against his shoulder as he shook him. "Please wake up." Henry's voice broke over the words, as he fell forward, laying across James' chest. His body shook, as silent sobs wracked his tiny body.

Snow felt the rush of tears stream down her cheeks, when she heard the faint sounds of sirens. Closing her eyes, as a new batch of tears cascaded down her cheeks, the sound drew closer. The sound of doors opening and closing could be heard, but was quickly replaced with boots thumping against the sidewalk. "Go let them in, Henry." Snow said, urgency in her voice.

He lifted his head from his grandfather's chest, as he swiped a hand against his face. Standing up, Henry took off running toward the front of the building, opening the door open wide. "It's my mom. She's hurt." He cried out. One of the paramedics stayed behind to look Henry over, while the rest rushed in.

"Are you hurt?"

Henry shook his head. "Just help my mom. Please." He begged.

The paramedic nodded, as he wondered in further to find the rest of his crew. One was knelt beside James, checking him over, while the rest were strapping Emma to a gurney.

"Please, let us do our jobs." One of the paramedics said, before wheeling Emma from the room.

They quickly followed suit with James, leaving Henry and Snow to stand in the room alone. Rumpelstiltskin had long since left, and all that remained was two pairs of handcuffs in a whole lot of blood.

* * *

Snow used quick strides all the way into the emergency room, her eyes found the gurney that was rolling her, still unconscious, husband toward a curtained off area. She knew that Emma was already being tended to, and because James' injuries were far less severe that he'd be waiting until they had tended to Emma. Until she was, hopefully, stabilized enough, at least.

"Someone...please." Snow called out.

The nurse that was still seated at the front desk rushed out of her seat, and walked forward. "Snow White." She said softly.

Snow merely nodded her head, unable to trust her voice for a moment. She took a deep breath, before clearing her throat. "My daughter and husband were brought in."

The nurse's face paled slightly. Snow didn't recognize her from the enchanted forest. At least not right away. "Your daughter was taken directly to surgery. I have no further information on her condition. Your husband is being seen by the secondary care physician. He will be out to speak with you shortly on your husband's condition. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Snow sighed, as she picked at her blood soaked clothes. "A couple of things." The nurse merely nodded. "Is Graham still being treated? He was brought in for a concussion and broken ribs."

The nurse stared at Snow blankly for a moment. "I'll check and see. Anything else?" She asked.

"You wouldn't happen to have anything else that I could change into?" Snow motioned toward her blood drenched clothing.

The nurse nodded. "Yes, of course!" She waved Snow closer to the front desk. Reaching underneath of it, the nurse retrieved a pair of blue scrubs. "I'm sorry, this is all we have."

Snow waved her off. "It's perfectly fine. I promise." She looked down at Henry. His eyes were wide and still. Snow was certain that he was experiencing shock, and she did not blame her grandson at all. If she didn't have to take care of him she would be in the same shape. That fact alone was the only thing that was causing her from falling into the deep, depths of despair. "I hate to ask, but could you keep an eye on my grandson while I change?"

The nurse sighed. "That's not a problem." Though her voice reflected the fact that it was. The nurse eyed Henry for a moment before looking back at Snow. "Would you like me have a doctor look at him? He looks like he's in full blown shock."

Snow felt defensive of her grandson, who was obviously in no place to defend himself. "He's fine. Just keep an eye on him, please." Snow uttered, a bit of a bite to her words.

The nurse gave her a curt nod, as Snow wondered off to the area labeled as a bathroom. Entering the large room, she sighed. She did not want anyone else to come in. Snow needed a moment to contain herself, before putting on a false front that she would most likely have to hold up until they had word on how Emma and James were. She locked the large door that led into the large room, and turned toward the mirrors.

She looked absolutely ghastly. Her face was pale, except for her cheeks that were red from all of her unshed tears. Her eyes were red and puffy from holding in the overwhelming amount of emotion that wanted to pour out of her. Then there was her blood stained hands that trailed down her blood stained clothing. Stripping the clothes from her body, Snow grabbed them from the floor and tossed them into the trash bin. Her stomach tumbled uncomfortably, but she fought back the urge to vomit, as she pulled the scrub pants on followed by the shirt.

Looking back into the mirror, Snow sighed. The way the light glinted off of the sky blue scrub clothing set, made her face appear even more pale than it already was. Taking a deep breath, Snow closed her eyes for a moment trying to gain composure over her growing emotions.

Turning the faucet on full blast, she let the water get as hot as she was certain she could stand, before adding just a hint of cold water to keep it at the current temperature. She shoved her hands under the tap, and bit back a hiss at the hotness of the water burning her skin. Layering her red stained hands with soap, she lathered up her hands before shoving them back under the scolding water. She scrubbed at her hands, digging her fingernails into the skin, making sure that every single drop of blood was removed from her skin. When she was certain that her hands were near bleeding stage, she pulled them back and turned off the water. She towel dried them, hissing at the stinging, burning sensation in her hands.

Snow gripped the edge of one of the sinks as a pain coursed through her chest. It was so strong that she thought that it would surely knock her off of her feet. Tears welled in her eyes, and Snow knew that she would no longer be able to keep them at bay. Taking a single, shaky breath, she let the flood gates open wide, as tears splashed against the ceramic sink. A silent sob shook her body, as her arms wobbled and nearly gave out under the brunt of her grief.

She let her emotional breakdown continue for a few moments until she was able to gain control over herself enough to cut off the tears, and keep her shaking to a minimum. Looking in the mirror again, she sighed. She wiped under her eyes, hoped that Henry wouldn't see that she had broken down. Patting down her stiff clothing, Snow took a deep breath before exiting the bathroom and rejoining her grandson.

Graham was sitting next to Henry, holding his hand tightly. Henry's shoulders were shaking, and Snow knew that Henry was finally allowing himself to breakdown, and release his own grief. Silently, Snow sat down beside him, and grabbed his other hand.

His head turned toward her. His eyes were still wide, now clouded by unshed tears. "My mom-" He hiccuped. "She's—gonna—be.." He couldn't finish his thought as another sob brought through, causing his small body to shake uncontrollably.

Snow removed her hand from his, and rubbed his back soothingly, as tears started to reappear in her eyes. Out of the corner of her bleary eye, Snow saw movement heading their direction. She looked up to see a doctor head toward them. Looking back at Graham, she motioned with her head in the direction of the doctor. He merely nodded, as Snow stood up to talk with the doctor.

"Are you here for James-"

"Yes." Snow cut him off before he could finish.

He merely shook his head. "Our initial fear was the severity of James' head injury." Snow nodded, the look on the doctor's face caused her pause though. "After a MRI, we've been able to locate a pretty severe brain bleed and some swelling. We need to go in to fix the bleed and reduce the swelling."

Snow just stared at the doctor for a moment. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

"We need the next of kin's permission. That would be you."

Snow blinked a couple of times, before answering. "Yes. Do whatever you have to."

The doctor nodded. "I must inform you that there could be complications. This is brain surgery, and it could cause many problems from memory loss to coma and perhaps even death. Are you sure?" The doctor asked, the clipboard held firmly in his hands.

Snow sighed. She wasn't going to let the doctor scare her. Of course there could be complications, but what would happen if they did nothing? He would die. As sad as it was, Snow knew that she'd rather have James with no memory, than dead. "Yes. I'm sure."

The doctor thrust the clipboard at her. "I need you to sign." Snow nodded, as she grabbed the pen he handed her and scribbled down her name. The doctor nodded as he looked it over. "Someone will keep you informed, and I will come out to talk to you shortly after the surgery is completed."

Snow nodded as a couple of tears slipped down her cheeks. Her entire would was falling apart, and her vision blurred as she watched the doctor walk away. Her husband had a head injury that was apparently so severe he needed surgery. It didn't make sense, he had been awake. He had been conscious. How could his head injury be so bad, and yet he was able to help try to save his daughter.

"Snow." Her name came out softly, merely a whisper.

Turning around, Snow thrust her arms around Graham's neck as tears cascaded down her cheeks. She knew she was upsetting Henry and yet she could do nothing to stop it. The floodgates had opened, and Snow wasn't entirely sure that she could get them to stop again.

"He'll pull through, Snow. Prince James is a fighter. He never gave up on you and you cannot give up on him." Snow knew that Graham's words were meant to be comforting, but in that moment all Snow felt was pain. Intense, crippling pain.

* * *

Snow sat with Henry, his hand clasped tightly in hers. Tears were rolling, unchecked, down his cheeks. Graham was pacing the floor in front of her, as August sighed loudly, his head lulled to the side as his eyes started to droop close. August had rushed into the emergency room only a half hour earlier. He claimed that he had been waiting in our apartment for Emma to return, as she had instructed. He went onto to explain that when a couple of hours passed and no one had returned that he figured things had gone bad with retrieving Henry and myself. He didn't take the news of Emma's current predicament very well, but had settled down when Graham had glared at him.

Snow noticed that Graham's hands were bawled into tight fists at his sides. His strides were quick. Two up and two back. It was a rhythmic motion, and if it helped keep him calm then Snow was willing to allow him to continue doing it. Even if it was driving her crazy. Suddenly though, Graham stopped and turned abruptly.

"I knew I should have made her take me with her. I could have stopped this from happening." Tears slowly started to roll down his cheeks, as he collapsed in the empty chair next to Snow. "I love her so much. We were pulled apart for so long." He gasped as a sob tore through him. He cradled an arm against his ribs. "I just..." He was out of words. There was nothing else to say.

"Snow." A voice called out. She stood up, and engulfed Ruby in a hug, as tears welled in her eyes. "They'll pull through. They're both stubborn, remember that." Snow pulled back from embracing Ruby, and looked at her.

Snow nodded, knowing she couldn't break down in front of Henry. Not when she had only recently calmed his sobs. She also knew that she couldn't stop the tears that were pooling in her eyes. Ruby noticed the look, and started to pull her further from the group. "I'm taking Snow to get some coffee. Graham, will you look after Henry until we return?" Graham simply nodded, as he dried the tears in his eyes. Ruby watched as he scooted over to occupy the chair that Snow had only recently vacated. "Would anyone else like some coffee?" Graham and August both nodded. "We'll be back soon."

Snow pulled away from Ruby for a moment, and looked at Graham. "Please come get me if the doctor returns." Graham again gave a slight nod. "I'll be back soon, Henry." He nodded softly, as he made an attempt at wiping away the excess amount of tears in his eyes.

Ruby placed her hand on Snow's arm, just above her elbow, and started to lead her away from the group she had been sitting with. Once they were a fair enough distance away, Ruby turned toward Snow. A silent sob broke through, as an agonizing ache overtook her chest. "I—cannot—lose-them." Snow said through broken sobs.

Ruby's heart clenched at her friends breakdown. Hugging Snow against her chest, she led them to an empty bench behind them. Sitting them both down, safely, Ruby started to rub soothing circles on Snow's back. Her body jerked, as her breathing hitched with each new sob that tore through her body. After a few minutes, her sobs started to subside and she was left with breathtaking hiccups.

"I'm sorry." Snow finally said, as she brushed her fingers under her eyes to wipe away the excess tears that had pooled there.

"For what? Breaking down? Don't be." Ruby spoke softly. "I will always be a shoulder you can cry on. I am always there for you. Remember that, please, Snow."

Snow nodded. A sigh sounded, before she stood up. "Let's go get that coffee before they start to wonder where we went." Ruby nodded, as she stood up to follow her friend.

* * *

It had been nearly an hour since Snow had returned to the waiting area, and all of the waiting was starting to take it's toll on everyone that was sitting there. Ruby was asleep, her head lulled to the side, leaning against Snow's shoulder. Henry was curled up on the chair, his eyes continued to droop close, but he fought against sleep. Snow wasn't sure if it was because he needed to know about Emma or because he was afraid of the waiting nightmares. His head was leaning against Graham, and Snow could tell that the added pressure against his side was causing him pain, but Graham refused to ask Henry to move. August had left, making Snow promise to call him the instant that she knew anything. He promised to return first thing in the morning with fresh clothing, food, and coffee for everyone.

The sound of footsteps scuffling against the linoleum floor, caused Snow to jerk her head. The action had a domino effect, as Henry sat up peering in the same direction, which caused Graham's head to seek out the same information that the others were, and Ruby rubbed at her tired eyes as she too sat up. Snow remembered the doctor, from talking to him about James earlier. She stood up and watched as everyone watched her approach the doctor.

The solemn look on his face made her heart drop into her stomach. "I wish I had better news." Snow drew her bottom lip in and started to chew on it. Her eyes never left the doctors. The words were barely sinking in. "The bleeding was worse than what we anticipated. We did everything we could." Her eyes widen slightly. "He's alive." He quickly restated. "There is just a much higher chance that the bleeding did damage. Brain injuries are so unpredictable. He could have no side effects or-"

Snow's head snapped up. "Or? What, he could be in another coma? Die? What?" She vaguely knew that her voice was raising but she didn't care. This was her husband, and this doctor was being less than informative.

"All possibilities, along with memory loss. For now, we have him in a medically induced coma to help his brain heal. It will help ease the swelling and will hopefully stop any further brain bleeding. I am so sorry. All we can do now is sit back and wait."

Sighing, Snow nodded mechanically. "Can I see him?"

The doctor sighed, running a hand through his hair. "For a short time, yes. He's currently in the ICU, and he will remain there until we take him off the medication that is keeping him in a coma."

Snow swallowed against the lump in her throat. "That's when we'll find out if he's..." She couldn't finish that thought. The thought that James would be anything less than his usual self made her heart constrict painfully.

"Yes, ma'am. If you follow me, I'll show you to his room."

Snow nodded, before turning back to her audience. She knew that there were tears in her eyes, but in that moment she couldn't find it in herself to be strong. "I'll be right back." She said, her voice thick with unshed tears. They all nodded, as Snow carefully followed the doctor, disappearing from their view quickly.

* * *

Everyone had practically dosed off again by the time that Snow had returned. Sighing, she sat down in the same seat she had occupied before. It seemed as if that horrible day would never end or at the very least, that they would never find out Emma's condition. As soon as the thought entered her mind, the sound of a throat clearing garnered her attention. Being as quiet as she could stand, Snow whipped her head around and saw Dr. Whale standing just a few feet behind her.

Turning back to the group of people sitting with her, Snow realized that Graham was the only one who had awaken. Peeling himself from Henry's tight grasp without waking him up, seemed an impossible feat, but Graham managed to pull it off. Both of them stood up and walked quietly toward Dr. Whale.

"Do you want me to be completely honest with you?" Both of them nodded, as Dr. Whale looked at the chart in his hands for a moment. He sighed. "The injury that Emma was brought in with is fatal about ninety to ninety-five percent of the time. With the shape that Emma was in when she was brought in, made her chances of survival even worse. We had to rush her immediately to the OR to stop the bleeding if we wanted any chance to save her." He sighed, as he scratched at his head. "Now, Snow. You know that Emma had stopped breathing for a while before the paramedics arrived on scene." Snow nodded. "Well, she coded on the operating table, twice. We were able to revive her on both occasions."

Graham was getting impatient. "Get on with it, please."

Dr. Whale nodded. "She made it through the surgery, but there will likely be complications. What those might be, could be any variety of things. Emma had been without oxygen for a good long while before the paramedics were able to get her breathing again. Adding on top of that, her heart stopping twice-" He let his sentence fall off. "The most important thing is that she is indeed alive. We are going to keep her in a medically induced coma for a couple of days to allow her to heal some. It will take stress off of her heart, and could stop any permanent damage. After those days have passed we will allow her to wake up. Once she does, we will be able to find out if any complications will arise. Most common complications would be with her heart and possible memory loss from the lack of oxygen."

Snow and Graham sighed in relief at the what the doctor said. Yeah it was bad, but it could have been so much worse, like the doctor had said. She was alive. "Can we see her?"

"Not at this moment, I'm afraid. I will allow her visitor's first thing in the morning though."

Snow glared at Dr. Whale, before sighing. At least her daughter was alive. Snow watched as Dr. Whale disappeared before throwing her arms around Graham and hugging him tightly. "She's alive. That's most important." She could feel Graham nodding his head. Pulling back slightly, Snow pressed a kiss against his cheek.

Graham blushed slightly, before touching his cheek. "What's that for?" His eyebrow quirked.

"I never properly thanked you for saving my life."

Graham smiled softly. "No thanks needed." They walked back to their seat, and Graham pulled the still sleeping Henry into his lap, and smiled as the young boy curled against his chest. Snow realized in that moment that she had never seen Graham, as the town sheriff or the huntsman, so happy.

* * *

For the five people that were waiting—as patiently as they could—for the two most important people in their lives to wake up, the two days that they were both in their medically induced coma felt like an eternity. Graham spent much of his two days sitting vigil at Emma's bedside. Her hand clutched tightly in his. Snow tried to evenly alternate her time between James and Emma's rooms. Occasionally when Snow would visit Emma, Graham would leave her alone with Emma. More often than not though, Snow would ask him to stay. It was more comfortable for her to sit there, looking at her pale daughter's face, with the man that loved Emma with all his heart.

Henry spent time with both Snow and Graham. Generally visiting with his grandpa James when Snow did, and then would saddled himself next to Graham in Emma's room. It warmed Snow's heart to see how close the two had gotten because of this incredible tragedy. Graham would also keep his arm around Henry's shoulders, and when Henry would get tired, Graham would pull Henry's chair closer, letting the young body curl into his side. Snow never missed the grimace that would cross Graham's face when Henry would first curl up next to him, but Graham just smiled brightly, his arm slung around Henry's small body.

Ruby visited at least twice a day, smiling and laughing with Graham, and consoling Snow who was still having some issues gripping just how much her life would change because of this incident. August had only visited once a day. As much as Graham hated it, and the scowl written deeply on his features spoke to just how much he hated it, Graham had given August a half an hour alone with Emma.

It broke Snow's heart, that she couldn't be with both James and Emma when they were taken off the medication keeping them unconscious. Every half hour, Snow would flutter into Emma's room to check on her progress before returning to James' room. After four hours, they were all beginning to get antsy. Fear was seeping back in, but Doctor Whale had simply explained that both of there injuries were rather severe and that it might actually take a day or two once the medication was fully out of their systems before they woke up. It was the undercurrent to his voice that told them what he wouldn't. If they woke up. It was something that both Snow and Graham had thought about, but neither of them had ever spoke about. Fearful that saying the words would make it true, and by pretending that it wasn't an option would make both of their loved ones wake up, and be fine.

Graham was with Emma when she started to wake up. It was only little things at first. A flutter of her fingers, and moan here or there. After twenty minutes her eyes started to flutter as her fingers started to twitch slightly. Henry and Graham sat on the edge of their seats, their eyes glued to Emma's face. They were startled when her eyes flashed open. Emma looked around the room just as Snow fluttered back into the room. A foggy gaze caught each of their faces. They waited with baited breath for the knowing smile to cross her lips, and her to put their anxiety to rest, but it never came. Instead, a look of confusion lit up her face as her heart monitor started to beat loudly. Doctor Whale rushed inside, a look of worry written on his face.

"You're going to have to wait outside." He ordered, as the three of them, with their heads hanging stood up and walked slowly out of the room. The door was instantly shut behind them.

Dejectedly, Graham slumped into a chair in the hall, as the other two followed suit. Frowns were etched on all three of their faces, as Henry poked Graham's shoulder. He turned his attention to the young boy. "Something is wrong with my mom, isn't there?"

The utter sadness on Henry's face broke Graham's heart. All he wanted to do was reassure the boy that his mother would be perfectly fine, but Graham couldn't lie to him. "I honestly don't know, Henry. I hope so."

Henry nodded, as he curled into Graham's side again. Snow sighed, as she swiped a hand under her now wet cheeks. She had seen her daughter's beautiful blue eyes, but had noticed that there wasn't one bit of recollection in them.

The door opened after about ten minutes, and Doctor Whale stepped out. All three of them stood up, and the sadness etched on the doctor's features started to confirm their worst fears. "We need to run some tests, but it appears that Emma is experiencing a bit of amnesia. She's very confused and it's making her heart rate stay higher than I really want it to. If her heart rate doesn't go back down to a more comfortable zone, I will be forced to put her back into a medically induced coma until her body has had time to heal. I would really prefer she have no visitors until after we run some tests and get her heart rate under control."

With that, he turned and walked away. With tears in her eyes, Snow turned to Graham. "That man really needs to work on his bedside manor."

Graham nodded, before putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. Together, they all walked away from Emma's room. "Do you mind if I sit with you—in James' room?"

Snow offered a watery smile. "Of course, not."

* * *

It was another two days of pacing, tears, and testing before they were informed that Emma's heart rate had returned to a comfortable level and that there seemed to be no lasting damage done to her heart. Doctor Whale informed them that she would have to see a specialist for a while until they could be certain that no heart problems would develop after time. He went on to explain that her amnesia was likely caused by the lack of oxygen to her brain for a prolonged time. He was nearly certain, though he did explain that he wasn't a neurologist, that her amnesia wasn't permanent.

However, after he finished explaining all of that, he finished by telling them that he was prohibiting visitors for the next few days to keep her heart rate under control, before he started letting people in to see her. At which point, he would only allow one visitor at a time as to not overwhelm her.

Not long after their visit with Doctor Whale, they were visited by James' doctor. The solemn look on his face, broke Snow's heart. She couldn't take anymore bad news.

"We ran a few tests on James. He should have made an attempt to wake up by now, and he hasn't." Snow nodded, even if she wanted to tell him to get to the point because she was sick of all the beating around the bush. "The swelling on his brain has returned, and we're not entirely sure why. It could just be trauma from the medication we had him on when we were keeping him unconscious, or he could have another brain bleed."

Graham put a hand on her shoulder. "Could you please just get to the point. Today hasn't exactly been the best."

The doctor nodded. "As of right now, I am sorry to inform you that it appears that James has slipped into a coma."

The world tilted on it's axis and started to spin. If Graham hadn't been holding onto, Snow was fairly certain she would have collapsed right then and there. All she could think in that moment was that she was glad that they had Ruby watch Henry, because he wouldn't have taken either news well.

* * *

_**A/N: Sequel plans are still in order, I just need a bit of time to gather my thoughts on what I want from this. I can promise you lots of angst and some fluff-and drama. Just what I love to write. **_


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